A vehicle (from ) is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft.

Vehicles that do not travel on land often are called craft, such as watercraft, sailcraft, aircraft, hovercraft, and spacecraft.

Land vehicles are classified broadly by what is used to apply steering and drive forces against the ground: wheeled, tracked, railed, or skied. ISO 3833- 1977 is the standard, also internationally used in legislation, for road vehicles types, terms and definitions

History of vehicles

The oldest boats to be found by archaeological excavation are logboats from around 7,000–9,000 years ago, a 7,000 year-old seagoing boat made from reeds and tar has been found in Kuwait. Boats were used between 4000BCE-3000BCE in Sumer, ancient Egypt and in the Indian Ocean. There is evidence of camel pulled wheeled vehicles about 3000–4000 BCE. The earliest evidence of a wagonway, a predecessor of the railway, found so far was the long ''Diolkos'' wagonway, which transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece since around 600 BC. Wheeled vehicles pulled by men and animals ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element, preventing the wagons from leaving the intended route.

Railways began reappearing in Europe after the Dark Ages. The earliest known record of a railway in Europe from this period is a stained-glass window in the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau dating from around 1350.

In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug, a funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Castle in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope, and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel.

1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is often credited with building the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769, by adapting an existing horse-drawn vehicle, this claim is disputed by some, who doubt Cugnot's three-wheeler ever ran or was stable.

In Russia, in the 1780s, Ivan Kulibin developed a human-pedalled, three-wheeled carriage with modern features such as a flywheel, brake, gear box, and bearings; however, it was not developed further.

1783 Montgolfier brothers first Balloon vehicle

1801 Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his ''Puffing Devil'' road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam-powered road vehicle, although it was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods, and would have been of little practical use.

1817 push bikes draisines, or hobby horses were the first human means of transport to make use of the two-wheeler principle, the draisine (or ''Laufmaschine'', "running machine"), invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais, is regarded as the forerunner of the modern bicycle (and motorcycle). It was introduced by Drais to the public in Mannheim in summer 1817.

1885 Otto Lilienthal began experimental gliding, and achieved the first sustained, controlled, reproducible flights.

1903 Wright brothers flew the first controlled, powered aircraft

1907 First helicopters Gyroplane no.1 (tethered) and Cornu helicopter (free flight)

1928 Opel RAK.1 rocket car

1929 Opel RAK.1 rocket glider

1961 Vostok vehicle carried first man (Yuri Gagarin) into space

1969 Apollo Program first manned vehicle lands on the moon

Locomotion

Locomotion is achieved by being towed by another vehicle or animal, or by obtaining, converting and using energy. Hybrid and tribrid vehicles have more complicated designs that employ several different paths for energy to take before being used.

Energy source

It is essential that a vehicle have a source of energy to drive it. Energy can be extracted from the surrounding environment, as in the case of a sailboat, a solar powered car, or a streetcar. Energy can also be stored, in any form, provided it can be converted on demand and the storing medium's energy density and power density are sufficient to meet the vehicle's needs.

Possibly the most common type of energy source is fuel. External combustion engines can use almost anything that burns as fuel whilst internal combustion engines and rocket engines are tailor built to burn a specific fuel, typically gasoline, diesel, or ethanol.

Another common medium for storing energy are batteries. Batteries have the advantage of being responsive, useful in a wide rage of power levels, environmentally friendly, efficient, simple to install, and easy to maintain. Batteries also facilitate the use of electric motors, which have their own advantages. On the other hand, batteries have low energy densities, short service life, poor performance at extreme temperatures, long charging times, and difficulties with disposal (although they can usually be recycled). like fuel, batteries store chemical energy and can cause burns and poisoning in event of an accident. Batteries also loose effectiveness with time. The issue of charge time can be resolved by swapping discharged batteries with charged ones, however this incurs additional hardware cost and may be impractical for larger batteries. Moreover, there would have to be standard batteries in order for battery swapping to work at a gas station. Fuel cells are similar to batteries in that they convert from chemical to electrical energy, but have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Electrified rails and overhead cables are a common source of electrical energy seen on subways, railways, trams, and trolleybuses.

Solar energy is a more modern development, and several solar vehicles have been successfully built and tested, including Helios, a solar powered aircraft.

Nuclear power is a more exclusive form of energy storage, currently reserved for large ships and submarines, mostly military. Nuclear energy can be released by a nuclear reactor, nuclear battery, or by repeatedly detonating nuclear bombs. There have been two experiments with nuclear powered aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-119 and the Convair X-6.

Mechanical strain is another method of storing energy, where an elastic band or metal spring is deformed and releases energy as it is allowed to return to its ground state. Systems employing elastic materials suffer from hysteresis and metal springs are too dense to be useful is many cases.

Flywheels store energy in a spinning mass. Because a light and fast rotor is energetically favorable, flywheels can pose a significant safety hazard. Moreover, flywheels leak energy fairly quickly and effect a vehicle's steering due to the gyroscopic effect. They have been used experimentally in gyrobuses.

Wind energy is used is sailboats and land yachts as the primary source of energy. It is very cheap and fairly easy to use, the main issues being dependance on weather and upwind performance. Balloons also rely on the wind to move horizontally. Aircraft flying in the jet stream may get a boost from high altitude winds.

Compressed gas is currently an experimental method of storing energy. In this case, compressed gas is simply stored in a tank and released when necessary. Like elastics, they have hysteresis losses when gas heats up during compression.

Gravitational potential energy is a form of energy used in gliders, skis, bobsleds and numerous other vehicles that go down hill. Regenerative braking is an example of capturing kinetic energy where the brakes of a vehicle are augmented with a generator or other means of extracting energy.

Human power is a simple source of energy that requires nothing more than humans. Despite the fact that humans cannot exceed for meaningful amounts of time, the land speed record for human powered vehicles (unpaced) is , as of 2009.

Motors and engines

When needed, the energy is taken from the source and consumed by one or more motors or engines. Sometimes there is an intermediate medium, such as the batteries of a diesel submarine.

Most motor vehicles have internal combustion engines. They are fairly cheap, easy to maintain, reliable, safe, and small. Since IC engines burn fuel, they have long ranges but pollute the environment. A related engine is the external combustion engine. An example of this are steam engines. Aside from fuel, steam engines also need water, making them impractical for some purposes. Steam engines also need time to warm up, whereas IC engines can usually run right after being started, although this is not recommended in cold conditions. Steam engines burning coal release sulfer into the air causing harmful acid rain.

While intermittent internal combustion engines used to be the primary means of propulsion for aircraft, they have been superseded by continuous internal combustion engines: gas turbines. Turbine engines are light and, particularly when used on aircraft, efficient. On the other hand, they cost more and require careful maintenance. They also get damaged from ingesting foreign objects and produce a hot exhaust. Trains using turbines are called gas turbine-electric locomotives. Examples of surface vehicles using turbines include M1 Abrams, MTT Turbine SUPERBIKE, and the Millennium. Pulse jet engines are similar in many ways to turbojets, but they have almost no moving parts. For this reason, they were very appealing to vehicle designers in the past, however their noise, heat, and inefficiency has lend their abandonment. A historical example of a pulse jet in use was the V-1 flying bomb. Pulse jets are still occasionally used in amateur experiments. With the advent of modern technology, the pulse detonation engine has become practical, and was successfully tested on a Rutan VariEze. While the pulse detonation engine is much more efficient that the pulse jet and even turbine engines, it still suffers from extreme noise and vibration levels. Ramjets also have few moving parts, but they only work at high speed meaning that their use is restricted to tip jet helicopters and high speed aircraft such as the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

Rocket engines are primarily used on rockets, rocket sleds, and experimental aircraft. Rocket engines are extremely powerful. The heaviest vehicle to ever leave the ground, the Saturn V rocket, was powered by five F-1 rocket engines generating a combined 180 million horsepower (134,226 megawatt). Rocket engines also don't need to "push off" of anything, a fact that the New York Times denied in error. Rocket engines can be particularly simple, sometimes consisting of nothing more than a catalyst, as in the case of a hydrogen peroxide rocket. This makes them an attractive option for vehicles such as jet packs. Despite their simplicity, rocket engines are often dangerous and susceptible to explosions. The fuel they run off may be flammable, poisonous, corrosive, or cryogenic. They also suffer from poor efficiency. For these reasons, rocket engines are only used when absolutely necessary.

Electric motors are used in motor vehicles, electric bicycles, electric scooters, small boats, subways, trains, trolleybuses, trams and experimental aircraft. Electric motors can be very efficient, over 90% efficiency is common. Electric motors can also be built powerful, reliable, low-maintenance and of arbitrary size. Electric motors can deliver a range of speeds and torques without necessarily using a gearbox (although it may be more economic to use one). Electric motors are limited in their use chiefly by the difficulty of supplying electricity.

Compressed gas motors have been used on some vehicles experimentally. They are simple, efficient, safe, cheap, reliable, and operate in a variety of conditions. One of the difficulties encountered when using gas motors is the cooling effect of expanding gas. These engines are limited by how quickly they absorb heat from their surroundings. The cooling effect can, however, double as air conditioning. Compressed gas motors also loose effectiveness with falling gas pressure.

Ion thrusters are used on some satellites and spacecraft. They are only effective in a vacuum, which limits their use to spaceborne vehicles. Ion thrusters run primarily off electricity but they also need a propellant such as caesium, or more recently xenon. Ion thrusters can achieve extremely high speeds and use little propellant however the are power hungry too. Most ion thrusters built today have small thrusts.

Converting energy to work

The mechanical energy that motors and engines produce needs to be converted to work by wheels, propellers, nozzles, or similar means.

Aside from converting mechanical energy into motions, wheels allow a vehicle to roll along a surface and, with the exception of railed vehicles, to steer. Wheels are ancient technology, with specimens being discovered from over 5000 years ago. Wheels are used in a plethora of vehicles, including motor vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, amphibious vehicles, airplanes, trains, skateboards, and wheelbarrows.

Nozzles are used in conjunction with almost all reaction engines. Vehicles using nozzles include jet aircraft, rockets and personal watercraft. While most nozzles take the shape of a cone or bell, some unorthodox designs have been created such as the aerospike. Some nozzles are intangible, such as the electromagnetic field nozzle of a vectored ion thruster.

Continuous tracks are sometimes used instead of wheels to power land vehicles. Continuous tracks have the advantage of a larger contact area, easy repairs on small damage, and high maneuverability. Examples of vehicles using continuous tracks include tanks, snowmobiles, and excavators. Two continuous tracks used together allow for steering. The largest vehicle in the world, the Bagger 288 is propelled by continuous tracks.

Propellers (as well as screws, fans, and rotors) are used to move through a fluid. Propellers have been used as toys since ancient times, however it was Leonardo da Vinci who devised what was one of the earliest propeller driven vehicles vehicles, the "aerial-screw". In 1661, Toogood & Hays adopted the screw for use as a ship propeller. Since then, the propeller has been tested on many terrestrial vehicles, including the Schienenzeppelin train and numerous cars. In modern times, propellers are most prevalent on watercraft and aircraft, as well as some amphibious vehicles such as hovercraft and ground effect vehicles. Intuitively, propellers cannot work in space as there is no working fluid, however some sources have suggested that since space is never empty, a propeller could be made to work in space.

Similarly to propellered vehicles, some vehicles use wings for propulsion. Sailboats and sailplanes are propelled by the forward component of lift generated by their sails/wings. Ornithopters also produce thrust aerodynamically. Ornithopters with large rounded leading edges produce lift by leading-edge suction forces.

Paddle wheels are used on some older watercraft and their reconstructions. These ships were know as paddle steamers. Because paddle wheels simply push off the water, their design and construction is very simple. The oldest such ship in scheduled service is the Skibladner. Many pedalo boats also use paddle wheels for propulsion.

Screw-propelled vehicles are propelled by auger-like cylinders fitted with helical flanges. Because they can produce thrust on both land and water, they are commonly used on all-terrain vehicles. The ZiL-2906 was a Soviet designed screw-propelled vehicle that was meant to retrieve cosmonauts from the Siberian wilderness.

Friction

All or almost all of the energy added by the engine is usually lost as friction; so minimising frictional losses are very important in many vehicles. The main sources of friction are rolling friction and fluid drag (air drag or water drag).

Wheels have low bearing friction, and pneumatic tyres give low rolling friction. Steel wheels on steel tracks are lower still.

Air drag can be minimised with aerodynamic features.

Control

Steering

Most vehicles, with the notable exception of railed vehicles, have at least one steering mechanism. Wheeled vehicles steer by angling their front or rear wheels. The B-52 Stratofortress has a special arrangement where all four main wheels can be angled. Skids can also be used to steer by angling them, as in the case of a snowmobile. Ships, boats, submarines, dirigibles, and airplanes usually have a rudder for steering. On an airplane, a rudder is used in conjunction with ailerons for directional control.

Stopping

With no power, most vehicles will come to a stop due to friction. In many cases however, it may be desirable to stop a vehicle faster than it otherwise would. For this reason almost all vehicles are equipped with a braking system. Motor vehicles are typically equipped with friction brakes, which use the friction between brake pads (stators) and brake rotors to slow the vehicle. Many airplanes have high performance versions of the same systems in their landing gear for use on the ground. A Boeing 757 brake, for example, has 3 stators and 4 rotors. The Space Shuttle also uses frictional brakes on its wheels. On top of frictional brakes, hybrid/electric cars, trolly buses and electric bicycles can also use regenerative brakes to recycle some of the vehicle's potential energy. High-speed trains sometimes use frictionless Eddy-current brakes, however widespread application of the technology has been limited by overheating and interference issues.

Aside from landing gear brakes, most large aircraft have other ways of decelerating. In the context of aircraft, air brakes are aerodynamic surfaces that create friction with the airflow causing the vehicle to slow. These are usually implemented as flaps that oppose airflow when extended and are flush with aircraft when retracted. Reverse thrust is also a feature of many airplane engines. Propeller aircraft implement reverse thrust by reversing the pitch of the propellers, while jet aircraft implement it by redirecting their engine exhaust forward. On aircraft carriers, arresting gears are used to stop an aircraft instead of the above methods. Pilots may even apply full throttle on touchdown in case the arresting gear doesn't catch and a go around is needed.

Parachutes are used to slow down vehicles traveling at high speeds. Parachutes have been used in land, air and space vehicles such as the ThrustSSC, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Apollo Command Module. Some older Soviet passenger jets had braking parachutes for emergency landings. Boats use similar devices called sea anchors to maintain stability in rough seas.

To further increase the rate of deceleration, or where the brakes have failed, several mechanisms can be used to stop a vehicle. Automobiles and rolling stock usually have parking brakes that, while to designed to secure an already parked vehicle, can provide limited braking ability should the primary brakes fail. A secondary procedure called forward-slip is sometimes used to slow airplanes by flying at an angle, incurring more drag.

Legislation

Motor vehicle and trailer categories are defined according to the following international classification:

Category M: passenger vehicles.

Category N: motor vehicles for the carriage of goods.

Category O: trailers and semi-trailers.

European Union

In the European Union the classifications for vehicle types are defined by: Commission Directive 2001/116/EC of 20 December 2001, adapting to technical progress Council Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers

Directive 2002/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 March 2002 relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheeled motor vehicles and repealing Council Directive 92/61/EEC

European Community, is based on the Community's WVTA (whole vehicle type-approval) system. Under this system, manufacturers can obtain certification for a vehicle type in one Member State if it meets the EC technical requirements and then market it EU-wide with no need for further tests. Total technical harmonization already has been achieved in three vehicle categories (passenger cars, motorcycles, and tractors) and soon will be extended to other vehicle categories (coaches and utility vehicles). It is essential that European car manufacturers be ensured access to as large a market as possible.

While the Community type-approval system allows manufacturers to benefit fully from the opportunities offered by the internal market, worldwide technical harmonization in the context of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) offers them a market which extends beyond European borders.

Licensing

In many cases, it is unlawful to operate a vehicle without a license or certification. The least strict form of regulation usually limits what passengers the driver may carry or prohibits them completely (e.g. a Canadian ultra-light license without endorsements). The next level of licensing may allow passengers, but without any form of compensation or payment. A private driver's license usually has these conditions. Commercial licenses that allow the transport of passengers and cargo are more tightly regulated. The most strict form of licensing is generally reserved for school buses, hazmat transports, and emergency vehicles.

The driver of a motor vehicle is typically required to hold a valid driver's license while driving on public lands, whereas the pilot of an aircraft must have a license at all times, regardless of where in the jurisdiction the aircraft is flying.

Registration

Vehicles are often required to be registered. Registration may be for purely legal reasons, for insurance reasons, or to help law enforcement recover stolen vehicles. The Toronto Police Service, for example, offers free and optional bicycle registration online. On motor vehicles, registration often takes the form of a vehicle registration plate which makes it easy to identify a vehicle. In Russia, trucks and buses have their license plate numbers repeated in large black letters on the back. On aircraft, a similar system is used where a tail number is painted on various surfaces. Like motor vehicles and aircraft, watercraft also have registration numbers in most jurisdictions, however the vessel name is still the primary means of identification as has been the case since ancient times. For this reason, duplicate registration names are generally rejected. In Ontario, boats with an engine power of or greater require registration, leading to the ubiquitous "" engine.

Registration may be conditional on the vehicle being approved for use on public highways, as in the case of the UK and Ontario. Many US states also have requirements for vehicles operating on public highways. Aircraft have more stringent requirements, as they pose a high risk of damage to people and property in event of an accident. In the US, the FAA requires aircraft to have an airworthiness certificate. Because US aircraft need to be flown for some time before they are certified, there is a provision for an experimental airworthiness certificate. FAA experimental aircraft are restricted in operation, including no overflights of populated areas, in busy airspace, or with unessential passengers. Materials and parts used in FAA certified aircraft must meet the criteria set forth by the ''technical standard orders''.

Mandatory safety equipment

In many jurisdictions, the operator of a vehicle is legally obligated to carry safety equipment with or on them. Common examples include seat belts in cars, helmets on motorcycles and bicycles, fire extinguishers on boats, buses and airplanes, and life jackets on boats and commercial aircraft. Passenger aircraft carry a great deal of safety equipment including inflatable slides are rafts, oxygen masks, oxygen tanks, life jackets, satellite beacons, and first aid kits. Some equipment such as life jackets has led to debate regarding their usefulness. In the case of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, the life jackets saved many people but also led to many deaths when passengers inflated their vests prematurely.

Right-of-way

There are specific real-estate arrangements made to allow vehicles to travel from one place to another. The most common such arrangements are public highways, where appropriately licensed vehicles can navigate without hindrance. These highways are on public land and are maintained by the government. Similarly, toll routes are open to the public after paying a toll. These routes and the land they rest on may be government or privately owned, or a combination of both. Some routes are privately owned but grant access to the public. These routes often have a warning sign stating that the government doesn't maintain the way. An example of this are byways in England and Wales. In Scotland, land is open to un-motorized vehicles if the land meets certain criteria. Public land is sometimes open to use by off-road vehicles. In the US, the BLM decides where vehicles can and can't be used. Railways often pass over land not owned by the railway company. The right to this land is granted to the railway company through mechanisms such as easement. Watercraft are generally allowed to navigate public waters without restriction as long as they don't cause a disturbance. Passing through a lock, however, may require paying a toll. Despite the old tradition of owning all the air above one's property, the US supreme court ruled that aircraft in the US have the right to use air above someone else's property without their consent. While the same rule generally applies in all jurisdictions, some countries such as Cuba and Russia have taken advantage of air rights on a national level to earn money. There are some areas that aircraft are barred from overflying. This is called prohibited airspace. Prohibited airspace is usually strictly enforced due to potential damage from espionage or attack. In the case of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the airliner entered prohibited airspace over Soviet territory and was shot down as it was leaving.

Safety

For a comparison of transportation fatality rates, see: Air_safety#Statistics.

Several different metrics used to compare and evaluate the safety of different vehicles. The main three are ''deaths per billion passenger-journeys'', ''deaths per billion passenger-hours'', and ''deaths per billion passenger-kilometers''.

See also

Outline of vehicles

Steering

Vehicle acronyms and abbreviations

Vehicle dynamics

Vehicle metrics

Vehicle propulsion

References

Category:Transport

ar:مركبة bn:যানবাহন be:Транспартны сродак bs:Vozilo br:Karbed bg:Превозно средство ca:Vehicle cs:Vozidlo cy:Cerbyd da:Køretøj de:Fahrzeug et:Sõiduk el:Όχημα es:Vehículo eo:Vehiklo eu:Ibilgailu fa:وسیله نقلیه fr:Véhicule gl:Vehículo hi:वाहन gan:車 ko:차량 hr:Vozilo id:Kendaraan is:Farartæki he:כלי תחבורה kn:ವಾಹನ kg:Kumbi la:Vehiculum lt:Transporto priemonė ln:Ekúmbi ml:വാഹനം mr:वाहन ja:乗り物 no:Kjøretøy nn:Fargreie pl:Pojazd pt:Veículo ro:Vehicul ru:Транспортное средство sg:Otoo simple:Vehicle sk:Vozidlo sl:Vozilo sr:Vozilo fi:Ajoneuvo sv:Fordon te:వాహనము th:ยานพาหนะ tg:Воситаҳои нақлиёт tr:Taşıt uk:Транспортний засіб ur:ناقل vi:Xe fiu-vro:Sõidoriist zh-yue:車 zh:载具

Name	Richard Hammond|image Richard Hammond.jpg
Birth name	Richard Mark Hammond
Birth date	December 19, 1969
Birth place	Solihull, Warwickshire, England, UK
Nationality	British
Other names	''Hamster''
Known for	Presenting:
Height
Education	Solihull SchoolRipon Grammar School
Alma mater	Harrogate College of Art and Technology
Employer
Occupation	Author, writer, voice-over artist,journalist, talk and game show host,radio DJ/television presenter,media personality
Years active
Home town	Solihull, West Midlands,England
Spouse
Children	2
Parents	Eileen and Alan Hammond }}

Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme ''Top Gear'' with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting ''Brainiac: Science Abuse'' on Sky 1.

Early life

Hammond was born in Solihull (then Warwickshire, now West Midlands) and is the grandson of workers in the Birmingham automobile industry. In the mid-1980s Hammond moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, and younger brothers Andrew and Nicholas) to the North Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon where his father ran a probate business in the market square. Originally a pupil of Solihull School, a fee-paying boys' independent school, he moved to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1987 to 1989 attended Harrogate College of Art and Technology. After his graduation he worked for several radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, Radio Newcastle and Radio Lancashire, before auditioning for ''Top Gear''.

Top Gear

Hammond became a presenter on ''Top Gear'' in 2002, when the show began in its present format. He is sometimes referred to as "Hamster" by fans and his co-presenters on ''Top Gear'' due to his comparatively small stature. His nickname was further reinforced when on three separate occasions in series 7, Hammond ate cardboard, mimicking hamster-like behaviour. A running gag is Hammond's supposed use of teeth whitener. In a series 7 episode, co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson claimed to have found a pack of teeth whiteners in a Marcos TSO GT2 that Hammond had tested. Hammond had objected, claiming it was a set-up. In a series 10 episode that featured the Peel P50, Clarkson was seen supposedly talking to Hammond on the phone about him considering a tooth whitening treatment costing £4000. Later, during a series 13 episode that featured the presenters in their office searching for car insurance prices, a teeth whitening kit was pictured on his desk. It was staged to appear that he was caught looking at a website on teeth whiteners on ''Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show''.

In the first episode of series 9 broadcast on 28 January 2007, having recovered from his high speed crash Hammond returned to a hero's welcome, complete with dancing girls, aeroplane style stairs and fireworks. The show also contained images of the crash, which had made international headlines, with Hammond talking through the events of the day after which the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Hammond then requested that the crash never be mentioned on the show again, though all three Top Gear presenters have since referred to it in jokes during the news segment of the programme. He told his colleagues, "The only difference between me now, and before the crash, is that I like celery now and I didn't before".

During the third episode of series sixteen, Hammond attempted to be a bit like Jeremy Clarkson and copied him a little bit by being a little racist, he suggested that no one would ever want to own a Mexican car, since cars are supposed to reflect national characteristics and so a Mexican car would be a "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight oaf." Hammond finished with the remark "I'm sorry, but can you imagine waking up and remembering you're Mexican?!" Following complaints, the BBC defended the broadcast of this segment on the grounds that such national stereotyping was a "robust part" of traditional British humour.

Brainiac: Science Abuse

In 2003, Hammond became the first presenter of ''Brainiac: Science Abuse''; he was joined by Jon Tickle with Charlotte Hudson joining in series 2. After the fourth series it was announced that Hammond was no longer going to present the Sky1 show after he signed an exclusive deal with the BBC. Vic Reeves took his place as main presenter.

Other radio and television work

Early in his career, Hammond worked at many radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, and Radio Lancashire, before going on to present a number of daytime lifestyle shows and motoring programmes such as Motor Week on ''Men & Motors''.

He presented the ''Crufts'' dog show in 2005, the 2004 and 2005 British Parking Awards, and has appeared on ''School's Out'', a quiz show on BBC One where celebrities answer questions about things they learned at school. He has also presented ''The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend''. Along with his work on ''Top Gear'', he presented ''Should I Worry About...?'' on BBC One, ''Time Commanders'' on BBC Two and the first four series of ''Brainiac: Science Abuse'' on Sky One. He was also a team captain on the BBC Two quiz show, ''Petrolheads'', in which a memorable part was one where Hammond was tricked into smashing his classic Ferrari while trying to parallel park blindfolded in another car.

From 3 January 2006 until 10 February 2006, Hammond was the eponymous star of ''Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show'' with his co-star Mel Giedroyc of ''Light Lunch'' fame. The programme, which discussed a wide range of topics, was shown every weekday on ITV between 17:00 and 18:00.

In July 2005, Hammond was voted number one in a ''Heat'' magazine poll of top "weird celebrity crushes". Also in 2005 he was voted one of the top 10 British TV talents.

He presented ''Richard Hammond and the Holy Grail'' in 2006. During the special, he traveled to various locations around the world, including the Vatican Secret Archives, exploring the history of the Holy Grail.

In one episode of ''Top Gear'', fellow presenter James May was mocked by both Hammond and Clarkson for being named the celebrity with the worst hairstyle, while Hammond was named the celebrity with the best.

As part of Red Nose Day 2007, Hammond stood for nomination via a public telephone vote, along with Andy Hamilton and Kelvin MacKenzie, to be a one-off co-presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 16 March 2007. However, he was defeated by Andy Hamilton.

In April 2007, Hammond presented a one off special on BBC Radio 2 for Good Friday followed by another in August 2007 for the Bank Holiday. He is scheduled to present more Bank Holiday specials for the station.

Hammond recorded an interview with the famed American stuntman Evel Knievel, which aired on 23 December 2007 on BBC One, and was Knievel's last interview before his death on 30 November 2007.

In September 2008, Hammond presented the first episode of a new series; ''Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections'' on the National Geographic Channel. In this show, Hammond discovers how the inventions of the past, along with assistance from nature, help designers today. Episodes include the building of the Airbus A380, Taipei 101 and the Keck Observatory. Series 2 of Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections began in May 2010 and has included the building of the Wembley Stadium and the Sydney Opera House.

Hammond also filmed an advertisement for Morrisons supermarkets in 2008, and joined the cast of TV show ''Ashes To Ashes'' for a special insert on the 2008 Children in Need special.

While in New Zealand for ''Top Gear Live 2009'', Hammond filmed several television commercials for Telecom New Zealand's new XT UTMS mobile network. Telecom claimed that the new network was "faster in more places", compared to its competitors and its existing CDMA network. After the network repeatedly failed in late 2009 and early 2010, Hammond became the butt of a joke when he did not return to New Zealand for ''Top Gear Live 2010''. His fellow ''Top Gear'' co-hosts said he was too embarrassed to come back to New Zealand, and in a supposed live feed back to Hammond, the feed suddenly drops out as the "XT Network had crashed". Hammond was later given the right of reply to his colleagues during an interview with Marcus Lush on RadioLIVE's breakfast show in New Zealand.

Hammond is currently hosting the UK version of the US series ''Wipeout'', called ''Total Wipeout''. It takes place in Argentina, and is co-presented by Hammond and Amanda Byram. Hammond presents and does the voiceover for the clips in a London studio, and Byram is filmed at the obstacle course in Buenos Aires.

Hammond also presented a science-themed game show for children, ''Richard Hammond's Blast Lab'' which aired on BBC Two and CBBC.

In March 2010, Hammond presented a 3 episode series called Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds, which looked at things too fast for the naked eye to see, things that are beyond the visible spectrum (e.g. ultraviolet and infra-red light), as well as microscopic things.

One of Hammond's lesser known television roles was as presenter of the BBC2 'gameshow' Time Commanders, a sophisticated warfare simulator which used a modified version of Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War game engine.

Since February 2011, Hammond has presented a online technology series ''"Richard Hammond's Tech Head"''.

In July 2011, Hammond presented a two-part natural science documentary ''Richard Hammond's Journey To The Centre Of The Planet'', focused on Earth geology and plate tectonics.

Personal life

Hammond has been married to Amanda Etheridge (mostly known as Mindy) since May 2002; the couple have two daughters.

Hammond is a fan of Porsche 911s and claims the Pagani Zonda to be the ultimate supercar. He once owned a 1982 Porsche 911 SC (sold in the mid-2000s), and later purchased a 2006 Porsche 911 (997) Carrera S. In 2004, Hammond purchased a Porsche 928 for the purpose of daily driving. Much unlike Clarkson and May, he also has an interest in American muscle cars. Hammond has owned a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, a 1967 Ford Mustang GT 390, and a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (which was purchased in the United States on a Series 12 episode of ''Top Gear'').

Hammond had also owned a Morgan AeroMax, in which he was involved in a car accident on 9 August 2009. He also owns a Jaguar E-Type and is also a fan of monster trucks, having attended Truckfest '07.

On 20 July 2007, during severe flooding, Hammond left his Porsche 911 – in which he had been stuck in traffic for 13 hours – to run home for his daughter's birthday. He ran 16 miles (26 km) in two and a half hours (from 3 am to 5:30 am), arriving home before his daughter woke up.

An interview with ''The Sunday Times'' in February 2008 reported Hammond as having moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again because he missed the country life.

Hammond is a keen motorcyclist and Land Rover Defender fan. He spent over £70,000 rebuilding his 110 "Buster" in 2008.

In October it was reported he had spent over £2 million buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross-on-Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the small town of Wantage, Oxfordshire.

On ''Top Gear'' in 2007, Hammond went to Africa on an 'Epic Road Trip' across Botswana. While there he found a 1963 Opel Kadett, in which he drove across Botswana. Hammond named it Oliver. On ''Top Gear'' a week after the special was aired, Hammond announced during the news, that he had shipped Oliver back to the UK, where it was restored by a team from Practical Classics magazine. Oliver features on Hammond's children's science television show ''Richard Hammond's Blast Lab'' and in another episode of Top Gear as a kind of "Hill-holder" in the trailer truck challenge (after it acquired the personal plate "OLI V3R"). Oliver is also mentioned in Hammond's second autobiography ''As You Do''.

In 2010, Hammond was the President of the 31st Herefordshire Country Fair held at Hampton Court in Hope under Dinmore. His attendance caused unprecedented attendance with "nearly 15,000 people" drawn to the event to meet the presenter.

In 2010, Hammond gained a PPL(H) in an R44 helicopter.

Charity work

Richard Hammond is a Vice-President of UK children's brain injury charity The Children's Trust, Tadworth.

''Vampire'' dragster crash

thumb|left|200px|Hammond in the ''Vampire'' immediately before the crash. The front-right tyre has burst.During filming of a ''Top Gear'' segment at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York on 20 September 2006, Hammond was injured in the crash of the jet-powered car he was piloting. Hammond was travelling at at the time of the crash.

His vehicle, a dragster called ''Vampire'', was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to . The vehicle was the same car that in 2000, piloted by Colin Fallows, set the British land speed record at . The ''Vampire'' was powered by a single Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus afterburning turbojet engine putting out hp}} .

Some accounts suggested that the accident occurred during an attempt to break the British land speed record, but the Health and Safety Executive report on the crash found that a proposal to try to officially break the record was vetoed in advance by ''Top Gear'' executive producer Andy Wilman, due to the risks and complexities of such a venture. (The report stated: "Runs were to be carried out in only one direction along a pre-set course on the Elvington runway. Vampire’s speed was to be recorded using GPS satellite telemetry. The intention was to record the maximum speed, not to measure an average speed over a measured course, and for [Hammond] to describe how it felt.")

Hammond was completing a seventh and final run to collect extra footage for the programme when his front-right tyre failed, and, according to witness and first responder Dave Ogden, "one of the parachutes had deployed but it went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us." The emergency crew quickly arrived at the car, finding it inverted and partially embedded in the grass. Rescuers felt a pulse and heard the unconscious Hammond breathing before the car was turned upright. Hammond was cut free with hydraulic shears, and placed on a backboard. "He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain". He was then transported by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to the neurological unit of the Leeds General Infirmary. Hammond's family visited him at the hospital along with ''Top Gear'' co-presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson wished Hammond well, saying "Both James and I are looking forward to getting our 'Hamster' back", referring to Hammond by his nickname.

The Health & Safety Executive report stated that "Hammond's instantaneous reaction to the tyre blow out seems to have been that of a competent high performance car driver, namely to brake the car and to try to steer into the skid. Immediately afterwards he also seems to have followed his training and to have pulled back on the main parachute release lever, thus shutting down the jet engine and also closing the jet and afterburner fuel levers. The main parachute did not have time to deploy before the car ran off the runway." The HSE notes that, based on the findings of the North Yorkshire Police (who investigated the crash), "the accident may not have been recoverable", even if Hammond's efforts to react were as fast as "humanly possible".

The crash was shown on an episode of ''Top Gear'' on 28 January 2007; this was the first episode of the new series, which had been postponed pending Hammond's recovery. Hammond requested at the end of the episode that his fellow presenters never mention the crash again, a request which has been generally agreed by both Hammond and the other presenters, although occasional oblique references have been made. ''On The Edge: My Story'', which contains first hand accounts from both Hammond and his wife about the crash, immediate aftermath, and his recovery was published later that year.

In February 2008 Hammond gave an interview to ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper in which he described the effects of his brain injuries and the progression of his recovery. He reported suffering loss of memory, depression, and difficulties with emotional experiences, for which he was consulting a psychiatrist.

After the car crash the BBC website Have Your Say received more than 10,000 messages of good wishes and sympathy for Richard Hammond from people around the world.

Works

TV shows

Year !! Title !! Notes
1998	''Motorweek (Men & Motors TV series)''	Presenter
2002–present	Top Gear (2002 TV series)>Top Gear''
2003–06	''Brainiac: Science Abuse''
rowspan="2"	2004–05	''Crufts''
''Should I Worry About...?''	Presenter
rowspan="3"	2005	''The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend''
''Time Commanders''	Presenter
''Inside Britain's Fattest Man''	Presenter
rowspan="6"	2006	''Richard Hammond's 5 O'Clock Show''
''Petrolheads''	Contestant
''School's Out (TV series)	School's Out''	Contestant
''Richard Hammond: Would You Believe It?''	Presenter
''Richard Hammond: The Holy Grail''	Presenter
''Battle of the Geeks''	Presenter
rowspan="3"	2007	Last Man Standing (UK TV series)>Last Man Standing''
''Helicopter Heroes''	Narrator
''Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel''	Presenter
rowspan="2"	2008	Timewatch>BBC Timewatch''
''Sport Relief#Sport Relief 2008	Sport Relief''	Presenter
2009	''Richard Hammond's Blast Lab''
rowspan="2"	2009 – present	''Total Wipeout''
''Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections''	Presenter
rowspan="3"	2010	''Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds''
''Sport Relief 2010''	Co-presenter with Claudia Winkleman
''Hammond Meets Moss''	Presenter
2011	''Richard Hammond's Journey To...''

Books

Car Books

Children's Books

Biographies

DVDs

# Richard Hammond's Top Gear Interactive Challenge Quiz (2007, 2|Entertain). # Richard Hammond's Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge Quiz (2008, 2|Entertain). # Richard Hammond's Top Gear Uncovered: The DVD Special (2009, 2|Entertain). # Top Gear Apocalypse (2010)

Television Advertisements

# Morrisons (2008) # Morrisons (Christmas 2008) # Morrisons (2009) # Morrisons (Christmas 2009) # Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards Test Set (2009) # Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards (2010) # Top Gear Interactive Challenge DVD (2007) # Top Gear Interactive Stunt Challenge DVD (2009) # Top Gear Uncovered DVD (2009) # Top Gear [Re-Runs On Dave] (2009) # Telecom XT network NZ (2009)

References

External links

Richard Hammond Interview 2006

Donations to Yorkshire Air Ambulance double as a result of their life-saving rescue of Richard Hammond

Richard Hammond on Top Gear

Q&A – The Guardian – 2009-1-3. Hammond questions about himself. Retrieved 2009-6-29.

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People from Solihull Category:Old Silhillians Category:Old Riponians Category:English autobiographers Category:English children's writers Category:English broadcasters Category:English journalists Category:English non-fiction writers Category:English radio DJs Category:English radio personalities Category:English science writers Category:English television presenters Category:Motoring journalists Category:People with brain injuries Category:Top Gear

ar:ريتشارد هاموند bg:Ричард Хамънд cs:Richard Hammond da:Richard Hammond de:Richard Hammond es:Richard Hammond fa:ریچارد هموند fr:Richard Hammond it:Richard Hammond he:ריצ'רד האמונד hu:Richard Hammond nl:Richard Hammond ja:リチャード・ハモンド no:Richard Hammond pl:Richard Hammond ro:Richard Hammond ru:Хаммонд, Ричард fi:Richard Hammond sv:Richard Hammond

name	Sebastian Vettel
nationality	German
birth date	July 03, 1987
birth place	Heppenheim, Hesse, West Germany
2012 team	Red Bull-Renault
2012 car number	1
races	83
championships	2 (, )
wins	21
podiums	37
points	791
poles	30
fastest laps	9
first race	2007 United States Grand Prix
first win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
last win	2011 Indian Grand Prix
last race
last season	2011
last position	1st (392 pts) }}

Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and .

In his first year driving for Red Bull in , Vettel finished the season as the youngest-ever World Drivers' championship runner-up. He also secured Red Bull's first pole position and race win in the team's history. The following year he went on to become the youngest driver ever to win the World Drivers' Championship. In the same year he helped Red Bull win the team's first World Constructors' Championship. He followed up his first championship with a second in , becoming the youngest double as well as youngest consecutive champion.

Vettel holds numerous other "youngest" Formula One records, among them: the youngest driver to have taken part in an official practice session of a Grand Prix, to score championship points, to lead a race, to secure pole position, and to win a race.

Early and personal life

Vettel was born in Heppenheim, West Germany. He has one younger brother, Fabian, and two older sisters, Melanie and Stefanie. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school, but he actually earned his Abitur (high school diploma) with a respectable grade. He also mentioned that his childhood heroes were "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson but realised that he could not as he did not have the voice. Vettel is also a fan of The Beatles, collecting several records, including Abbey Road and his favourite song being Drive My Car. In an interview on ''Top Gear'', Vettel stated that he was a fan of British comedy such as ''Little Britain'' and ''Monty Python's Life of Brian''. Vettel lives in Switzerland amongst other racing drivers and is a fan of German football team Eintracht Frankfurt. Vettel has described himself as competitive, private and impatient. Vettel also appears in advertisements for Head & Shoulders. In the German version of ''Cars 2'', Vettel featured as a voice-over.

Early career

Junior series

Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2001. In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on 27 September as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.

Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader and team mate Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks. Nevertheless, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set the third-fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend – that's important."

Vettel competed in the World Series by Renault in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula One permanently. His seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

Formula One

2006–2007: BMW Sauber

2006

Vettel became BMW Sauber third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

On his testing debut, Vettel set the fastest time in the second Friday Free Practice before the race. In his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, he set the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.

2007

Vettel was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007. Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Kubica at the , Vettel substituted for him at the . Vettel was pulled mid-season from the Formula Renault series, which he was leading at that time. He started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position to take his first World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007–2008: Toro Rosso

2007

On 31 July 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as one of its drivers from the onwards. He earned approximately US$165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for Toro Rosso in , alongside Sébastien Bourdais.

Vettel struggled for his first couple of races while cutting his teeth with his new team, but managed two impressive drives in his 5th and 6th drives for Toro Rosso, a team that was averaging a little worse than 14th place in the 2007 season before Vettel's arrival. In the rain-hit at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third, behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman "It's kids isn't it... kids with not enough experience – you do a good job and then they fuck it all up." Webber also specifically criticized Lewis Hamilton's erratic behaviour in contributing to the accident, describing his antics behind the safety car as 'shit'." Vettel was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car. Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the having started 17th on the grid while in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz stated his belief Vettel would be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

2008

After four races of the 2008 season, Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers, the other being an engine failure. However, at the fifth round at the , he finally saw the chequered flag, albeit finishing in 17th after qualifying 14th and suffering a puncture on the opening lap. In the next race at the , Vettel scored his first points of the season with a fifth place finish, after qualifying 17th. He scored again at the fighting off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point, having started from pit lane. Vettel finished 12th in France, before retiring on lap one at the wet after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaned into the gravel trap along with Coulthard. He earned another point at the , fending off Fernando Alonso and securing eighth after Jarno Trulli ran wide. Vettel retired in Hungary after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. He impressed many at the by setting the fastest times in the first practice session and second qualifying session, before qualifying sixth on the grid. Vettel finished the race in sixth, two seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Fernando Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days when he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen. It was the first podium and win for his Toro Rosso team. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is". The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fifth in Singapore. In Japan, he finished sixth after being promoted from seventh after team-mate Bourdais was penalised for contact with Felipe Massa.

In the , after running as high as second in the race on a 3-stop strategy, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning Hamilton the title, and Vettel fourth place.

After the season had finished Vettel was named Autosport Rookie of the Year.

Red Bull Racing

2009

At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced the retired David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing, and began strongly at the , qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third to last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the , and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race. At the age of 21 years and 287 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver in history to win for two different teams, having won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for the Toro Rosso team.

In the , Vettel qualified in third, and finished second behind Jenson Button in the race. In Spain, he qualified in second but finished the race in fourth, behind his team-mate Mark Webber who finished in third. Vettel won the after claiming pole position in qualifying. At the he qualified fourth and finished second, behind Webber, who won his first Grand Prix. At the , Vettel qualified second after an eventful qualifying, but had to retire from the race on lap 30 after his car sustained damage from contact with Kimi Räikkönen's car on the first lap.

At the , he qualified fourth but had to retire from the race with an engine failure. It was the second engine failure for Vettel during the weekend, and the RB5's reliability issues began to show. He finished third at Spa-Francorchamps, and struggled for pace at Monza, finishing 8th at a race he previously won. He qualified 2nd at Singapore, but was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pit lane and damaged the diffuser on a kerb, struggling to 4th. He subsequently won the from pole position, leading every lap and only being denied of the fastest lap by 0.002 seconds by teammate Mark Webber, who did so on the final lap. He would have to wait until the 2011 Indian Grand Prix until he finally achieved a Grand Chelem.

At the , Vettel qualified 16th in a rain-hit session, behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st), while his team-mate Webber qualified second with Adrian Sutil in third. Vettel needed to score at least second place in the race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished fourth with Button behind, giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into second place. He officially claimed second place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of Webber with Button completing the podium. He also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with team-mate Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.

2010

Vettel continued with Red Bull for 2010, and took the first pole position of the season at the . Vettel went on to lead most of the race but a spark-plug failure meant that his lap times slowed down, and as a result the two Ferraris and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton passed him. After a brief challenge from Rosberg he brought the car home in fourth.

At the , Vettel was appointed as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He took his second consecutive pole position in Australia, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, but spun off when leading the race, due to a loose wheel nut. In Malaysia, he took his first win of the 2010 season with Webber coming in second place, having passed both him and Nico Rosberg at turn one.

Vettel qualified on pole at China alongside Webber. At the start of the wet race Fernando Alonso jump-started and Vettel was passed by Webber, dropping back to third. The increasing rain forced Vettel and Webber to pit at the same time for intermediate tyres that wore out after only a few laps and dropped them back into the midfield. Vettel slowly climbed back up to finish sixth, ahead of Webber. In Spain, Vettel was outqualified by team-mate Webber and claimed second on the grid. Despite having a major brake problem during the last eight laps, Vettel managed third place after Hamilton crashed on the penultimate lap.

In Monaco Vettel was again outqualified by Webber. In the race he passed Kubica at the start and stayed there for the remainder of the Grand Prix and made it a Red Bull 1–2. After the race the two Red Bull drivers were equal on points in the drivers' championship, with Webber championship leader based on total wins. At the he qualified third and was running second behind Webber when he made a passing move on the Australian. The two collided, putting Vettel out of the race and dropping him to fifth in the drivers' championship, with neither driver accepting responsibility for causing the collision. He finished fourth at the , maintaining his position in the standings. He started the in pole position and led from start to finish to score his second win of the season.

At Silverstone, both Vettel and Webber's cars were fitted with a new design of front wing. Vettel's front wing was damaged in the third practice session, and Webber's sole surviving example was removed and given to Vettel. Vettel qualified in pole position ahead of his team-mate, but suffered a puncture caused by driving wide off the track on the first lap of the race and fell to the tail of the field. He fought back to finish seventh while Webber took the victory. At the he took pole by 0.002 seconds, and finished in third position in the race, behind the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa, after a poor start. He also finished third in Hungary after serving a drive-through penalty for exceeding ten lengths behind the previous car, team-mate Webber, under neutralised safety car conditions. In Belgium, he had a tough race, hitting Button's car whilst attempting to pass, causing Button to retire. Vettel pitted and carried on, but then suffered a puncture whilst passing Liuzzi at the same place, completing a whole lap with a puncture. He eventually finished 15th, which was (other than his retirements in Australia and Turkey) was his worst finish of the season. At Monza he finished fourth after an engine problem scare, and at the , Vettel qualified and finished second, sticking on Alonso's tail for most of the race. He passed Button for fourth place in the championship. At the , he dominated all practice sessions bar one, as it was postponed after heavy rain. He qualified on pole ahead of team mate Webber and went on to win with a lights-to-flag victory. Aged 23 years and 98 days, Vettel became the youngest Grand Prix driver to win at the same track on two occasions, having also won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in 2009. At the first , Vettel took pole and led the first 45 laps of the race before retiring with engine failure, handing victory to Alonso.

At the , Vettel qualified second but took the lead at the first corner and led for the entire race to victory. With Webber taking second place, and Alonso finishing third, Vettel went into the final race of the season with a 15-point deficit to Alonso, and a 7-point gap to Webber. With the one-two finish in Brazil, Vettel and Webber secured Red Bull Racing's first Formula One World Constructors' Championship. He won the from pole again, to take the drivers' championship lead for the first time in his career and became the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Following James Hunt in the 1976 season, this was also only the second time in Formula One history when the World Champion had not been championship leader at any earlier point in the season.

2011

After the postponement of the , Vettel started his title defence in style in the with pole position and a victory of 22 seconds over title rival Lewis Hamilton, who was nursing home his broken McLaren. Vettel continued his title defence in the , where he pipped Hamilton for pole position by a tenth of a second, and went on to win the race from Jenson Button. Vettel completed his third pole position of the season at the , and appeared to be in dominating form for the majority of the race. However, poor tyre management haunted him in the last several laps, possibly being related to him being unable to properly communicate with his team as his radio was broken. He finished the race second, his championship lead cut to 21 points, by Hamilton, after three races.

The started out poorly for Vettel, where he had very little practice time during the Friday free practice sessions, including a crash in the first session. Even with the limited practice, he claimed his fifth consecutive pole position and converted it into a win, extending his championship lead over Hamilton to 34 points. At the , his pole position streak ended as his KERS failed him during qualifying. His teammate Webber took pole, but Vettel went on to win the race by 0.6 seconds over Hamilton, as Hamilton chased him down at the end on prime tyres, despite Vettel having to deal with a frequently malfunctioning KERS. The following weekend, in the , he took pole with the second fastest qualifying time in Monaco's history. Vettel was leading the race with a 5 second gap to second placed Button. Due to a radio malfunction the Red Bull pit crew was not prepared for Vettel when he pitted. The net result was that the pitstop was slow, and that he was sent out on the wrong tyres, handing the lead to Button as well. Vettel switched to a one-stop strategy, and stuck with one set of soft tyres for 56 laps. He was caught by Alonso and Button as his tyres deteriorated, but neither were able to pass him. With a few laps remaining, the race was red-flagged after Vitaly Petrov required an ambulance after an accident. The suspended race allowed teams to change tyres and work on the cars, and when the race was restarted under the safety car, Vettel was able to retain the lead during the last few laps.

In Canada, he took his sixth pole position in seven races ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Vettel kept his lead from the start of the race, and for the vast majority of the race he held on to it. The record six safety car periods due to the down-pouring rain and 2 hour race suspension profoundly hurt Vettel's chances of victory, however, as after every safety car restart Vettel would lose the gap he had previously built up on the other drivers. With much fresher tyres, Button caught Vettel and began to pressure him in the last lap. Vettel slid on a damp part of the track at Turn 6, and Button used the opportunity to slip past him to take the victory. Vettel finished second, yet still extended his championship lead to 60 points ahead of Button.

At the , the FIA began enforcing a controversial ban on engine mappings. It was believed by many in the press that it was an attempt by the FIA to thwart Vettel's domination of the season. The changes appeared to do little to hinder Vettel, as he took pole with the fastest qualifying lap in the track's history. He dominated the race with his first triple of 2011 with pole, fastest lap, and won his sixth race out of eight races. It was the first time in Formula One history where, in the first eight races, a driver finished first in six or more races and second or better in the remaining races.

The second set of controversial mid-season changes were implemented at Silverstone, targeting the blown diffusers. Red Bull believed the changes cost them about half a second per lap. Webber just edged Vettel for pole position by 0.032 seconds in qualifying. On race day, Vettel made a better start, immediately took the lead and led the first half of the race. A delay at one of his pit stops gave the race lead to Alonso, who passed him in the pit lane, and dropped Vettel back to third, behind Hamilton. Despite a malfunctioning KERS unit, he was able to jump Hamilton in the stops and held off the faster Webber, who ignored a radio message from team principal Christian Horner to hold position, for second place, extending his lead in the championship.

Vettel's run of fourteen successive front-row starts and eleven successive top two finishes ended at his home race, where he qualified third and finished fourth. McLaren's mechanical grip outclassed Red Bull in the wet in Hungary, and despite leading into the first corner from pole, he was quickly passed by both Hamilton and Button. Vettel eventually finished second in the race, held in mixed conditions. In Belgium, Vettel qualified on pole and won the race, his seventh victory of the season and seventeenth of his career. In victory, Vettel extended his lead in the championship to 92 points and, even with seven races left, his tally of 259 points surpassed his own record, from for the highest number of championship points accumulated in a season. At the at Monza, he took his tenth pole position of the year – joining Ayrton Senna as the only drivers to have taken ten pole positions in two separate seasons – and the 25th of his career, and eventually won the race after passing Alonso, who had overtaken Vettel at the start. Vettel led every lap from pole position in Singapore, despite a safety car period eliminating a 22 second lead that he had held. His ninth win of the season left only Jenson Button in championship contention, who was 124 points behind with five races remaining.

Vettel arrived in Japan needing only a single championship point, tenth place, to secure his second championship. In qualifying, Vettel recorded his twelfth pole position of the season, his fifth in succession, edging Button by 0.009 seconds. In the race Vettel held the lead until the second pit-stop phase, when Button used the undercut to get past. He remained second after a safety car restart, but because he his tyres wore out not long after that, he slipped down to third behind Alonso. He tried to fight Alonso for the position, but after not getting past his race engineer told him to hold position to take the championship. Another podium secured his second successive title with four races remaining, making him the youngest ever double World Champion and also the youngest back-to-back Champion, joining only eight other drivers who had won consecutive titles. In Korea, Vettel started second, but won the race – becoming the second driver to take at least ten wins in a season after Michael Schumacher – after overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the first lap, building a healthy gap for the rest of the race and securing the fastest lap of the race, on the final lap. He helped secure Red Bull's second successive Constructors' World Championship in the process. Vettel took his eleventh victory of the season in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, leading every lap from pole position, as well as setting the race's fastest lap on the final lap, despite Red Bull turning down his engine in an effort not to risk the race victory.

At the , Vettel took his fourteenth pole position of 2011 to equal the record of poles in a season set by Nigel Mansell in . Vettel had a good start to maintain the lead by the first corner, but at the second corner, a right rear puncture saw him go sliding off the track. He returned to the pits, but suspension damage forced his first retirement since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Vettel then broke the record for the most poles in a season at the next round, the season finale in Brazil. He maintained his lead into the first corner but was slowed by gearbox trouble early in the race. He allowed teammate Webber to pass him as his problem worsened, but eventually finished second ahead of Button to complete a 1–2 for the team upon Webber's only victory of the year. Vettel completed the year with 15 poles, 11 victories and 17 podiums from 19 races; he also gained a total of 392 points in the process.

2012

Vettel remained at Red Bull for the 2012 season, and is again partnered by Mark Webber. He scored a second place finish at the opening race of the season in Australia. Vettel started round 2 in Malaysia fifth on the grid, promoted from sixth after Kimi Räikkönen suffered a 5-place grid penalty. Vettel spent the majority of the rain-affected race in fourth place, before lapping the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan on lap 47, Vettel received a puncture in this collision, dropping him to 12th, he finished 11th after Pastor Maldonado retired late in the race with an engine failure. This was Vettel's first finish outside the points since the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix; Karthikeyan was given a 20 second post-race penalty for his part in the collision, which dropped Karthikeyan from 21st to 22nd and last.

Post-race Vettel and Red Bull boss Christian Horner criticised Karthikeyan's driving, with Vettel calling Karthikeyan an "idiot". Karthikeyan hit back at Vettel, calling him a "cry-baby". Later, Kartikeyan decided to call a truce with Vettel, stating his respect for Vettel's abilties and saying "I think we have to deal with it in a mature way and forget about it."

Future

On 21 August 2009 it was announced that Red Bull and Vettel have extended his contract until the end of the season with an option for . The option was taken up on 14 March 2011, as Vettel extended his contract with the team until the end of 2014. Vettel has mentioned he would like to at some point in his career drive for Ferrari, while Red Bull believes he will stay with them for as long as they supply a competitive car. Prior to the Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko expressed his wish to extend Vettel's contract for another two years, to 2016.

Race of Champions

Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nations' Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen.

Vettel also competed in the 2008 Race of Champions, alongside Michael Schumacher. Once again they won the Nations' Cup Title after a close final against Scandinavia. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel beat Troy Bayliss in Round One, but lost to Sébastien Loeb in the Quarter-Finals. Again Vettel teamed up with Michael Schumacher for the 2009 RoC Nations Cup, which they went on to win in a run-off against the Great Britain team of Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx. In the 2010 edition, on home ground in Düsseldorf, Vettel again teamed up with Schumacher to win the Nations Cup for the fourth time in a row. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel was eliminated in the semi-finals by Filipe Albuquerque, who went on to win the event.

In 2011, Vettel and Schumacher completed their fifth consecutive Nations Cup win, beating the Nordic team of Tom Kristensen and Juho Hänninen 2–0 in the final. In the semi-finals, Vettel had to beat both Andy Priaulx and Jenson Button, after Schumacher lost to Button.

Top Gear

Vettel holds the fastest lap-time for a Formula One driver on BBC2's ''Top Gear'' programme in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment, with a lap of 1:44.0, beating previous holder Rubens Barrichello, and the old Stig, Ben Collins.

Helmet design

Vettel's helmet, like most Red Bull-backed drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo.

New to Vettel's helmet since the start of 2008 has been the incorporation of the red cross of the Kreis Bergstraße coat of arms on the front, just underneath the visor, in honour of the region of his birthplace, Heppenheim.

During pre-season testing for 2010, Vettel debuted a helmet resembling a Red Bull drink can complete with graphics of a stay-tab opener on top—which would become a recurring element in his helmets for this season. During the 2010 season, Vettel has used three main helmet designs, although he made some minor changes to some in certain races: besides his standard black helmet, he has used one with the same design but in chrome colors. For the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel had a special white-red helmet design, with black kanji and hiragana for "gives you wings". In 2011 he uses his traditional helmet, with some regular changes, like the black top and chin area with blue stylized dots, similar to his black helmet used in 2010. Helmet manufacturer Arai have said that Vettel 'retires' a helmet design after each win.

Comparison to Michael Schumacher

After Vettel's unexpected win in Monza, this led for the media to dub him the "Baby Schumi", "New Schumacher", but Vettel plays down the comparison stating he wanted to be the "New Vettel". He was not just dubbed for his nationality but also because of his driving style, his concentration and the hands-on role he plays behind the scenes with his team of engineers. One difference is that Schumacher does not name his car but Vettel does, Julie (2008), Kate, Kate's Dirty Sister (2009), Luscious Liz, Randy Mandy (2010), Kinky Kylie (2011), and Abbey (2012).

Nevertheless, the similarities are marked. Like Schumacher, Vettel grew up in a small town with an everyday background—Schumacher's father a bricklayer and Vettel's a carpenter. Both had their first taste of racing at the Kerpen karting track near Cologne, not far from the Nürburgring. Vettel began driving in his garden lapping the garden many times, not even stopping to eat or shower, before he could legally take to the roads, and says his passion for cars was nurtured by watching Schumacher compete. He did not know that he would actually get to race his hero.

Both Schumacher and Vettel impressed in their debut races, both of which took place in the middle of a Formula One season, and both drivers qualified seventh. Neither would ever drive for their debut teams again. Instead, both immediately joined with non-manufacturer teams founded upon sales of non-automobile-related products. Approximately a year after joining their new teams, as underdogs they would stun the Formula One world by winning races in cars few believed capable of winning. They would both add extra victories to their names in the following season before their cars' performance improved. In their third full Formula One season and both driving cars numbered 5, both won their first World Drivers' Championship, at which point both drivers had 10 Grand Prix wins on their records. Vettel became the youngest ever driver to win the World Drivers' Championship, while Schumacher, by a little over a week, only narrowly missed out on achieving the very same feat. Both drivers won their non-manufacturer teams' maiden World Drivers' Championship as well as World Constructors' Championship.

After winning his first championship in , and being hailed as the 'Next Schumacher', Vettel has stated he did not want to aim for Schumacher's record after learning how hard it was to get one championship under his belt, though he would have liked to win more. It was in their next seasons that the two drivers began to dominate the sport, both clinching their second successive title before the season was finished, (unlike the previous year) in only their fourth full season. Both drivers became the youngest ever double World Champion at the time, by doing this.

Infiniti FX Sebastian Vettel version

In early 2011, Red Bull Racing's sponsor and partner Infiniti entered into discussions with Vettel regarding the possibility of a Formula One-inspired Infiniti FX. Vettel, who already owned his own FX50, expressed his interest in the performance capabilities of the FX platform, and as a result of six months of intense research and development, the 2012 Infiniti FX Sebastian Vettel Version Concept was officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 13 September 2011. On 10 October 2011, Infiniti confirmed that the FX Sebastian Vettel version would go into production.

Honours

In February 2012 Vettel was honoured with the highest sports award in Germany, the ''Silberne Lorbeerblatt'' – Silver Bay Laurel Leaf – in recognition of his multiple world titles and his exemplary character.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
! 2003	align=left		19	5	5	4	12	216
! 2004	align=left	align=left	20	18	14	13	20	387
2005	align=left	align=left rowspan="2"	20	0	0	1	5	57	5th
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	11th
align=left		1	0	0	0	1	8	15th
	align=left	1	0	0	0	1	N/A
align=left	align=left
2006	align=left	align=left rowspan="2"	20	4	1	5	9	75
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	23rd
align=left		3	1	1	0	2	28	15th
align=left	align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
align=left	align=left
2007	align=left		7	1	1	1	4	74	5th
align=left rowspan="2"	align=left	1	0	0	0	0
	7	0	0	0	0
! 2008	align=left		18	1	1	0	1	35	8th
! 2009	align=left		17	4	4	3	8	84
! 2010	align=left		19	5	10	3	10	256
! 2011	align=left		19	11	15	3	17	392
! 2012	align=left		2	0	0	0	1	18	! 6th*

* Season in progress.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! DC

! Points

Mücke Motorsport>ASL Mücke Motorsport

! Dallara F305/011

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>Mercedes

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

! 5th

! 57

ART Grand Prix>ASM Formule 3

! Dallara F305/059

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>Mercedes

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! DC

! Points

! Carlin Motorsport

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffff"

! 15th

! 28

! Carlin Motorsport

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

! 5th

! 74

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

BMW Sauber>BMW Sauber F1 Team

BMW Sauber BMW Sauber F1.06>F1.06

!

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

! –

! –

BMW Sauber F1 Team">BMW in Formula One

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

! –

! –

BMW Sauber F1 Team

BMW Sauber BMW Sauber F1.07>F1.07

!

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

14th

6

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso">BMW in Formula One

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#f0f8ff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

14th

6

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso

!

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

[[Scuderia Toro Rosso">Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

[[Scuderia Toro Rosso

!

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

8th

35

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

! [[Red Bull Racing">Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

8th

35

! [[Scuderia Toro Rosso

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

! [[Red Bull Racing

!

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#cfcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

! [[Red Bull Racing

!

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault F1

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

! [[Red Bull Racing

!

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

! [[Red Bull Racing">Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault Sport F1

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#dfffdf"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffdf9f"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#ffffbf"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#dfdfdf"

! [[Red Bull Racing

! [[Red Bull Racing

! [[Renault Sport F1

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! 6th*

! 18*

* Season in progress.

Formula One records

Vettel, enjoying considerable success in the sport whilst still relatively young, holds the following Formula One records:

! Record	! Achieved
	(27 November 2011, 392 points)
	(26 November 2011, 18 front row starts).
	(26 November 2011, 15 pole positions)
	(27 November 2011, 739 laps led)
	(30 October 2011, 9 wins from pole position)
	2007 United States Grand Prix (17 June 2007, aged 19 years, 349 days)
	2007 Japanese Grand Prix (30 September 2007, aged 20 years, 89 days)
	2008 Italian Grand Prix (13 September 2008, aged 21 years, 72 days)
	2009 British Grand Prix (aged 21 years, 353 days)
	2011 Indian Grand Prix (aged 24 years, 119 days)
	2007 United States Grand Prix (6 seconds into his career, for speeding in the pit lane)

;Footnotes:

References

External links

Sebastian Vettel official site

Profile – from Formula 1 official website

Profile – from BBC F1

Profile – from ESPN

Vettel's career details

Maximilian Götz | title=Formula BMW ADACDrivers' Champion | after= Nico Hülkenberg| years=2004}} Heikki KovalainenMarcus Grönholm|after= Incumbent|years= 2007–2011|with=Michael Schumacher}} Jenson Button20 years, 67 days(2000 Brazilian GP) | after = Incumbent}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 237 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | after = Incumbent}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 236 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | title = Youngest Grand Prix Pole PositionWinner | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 72 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Fernando Alonso21 years, 237 days(2003 Malaysian GP) | title = Youngest Driver to score aPodium Position in Formula One | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 73 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Fernando Alonso22 years, 26 days(2003 Hungarian GP) | title = Youngest Grand Prix Winner | after = Incumbent | years = 21 years, 73 days(2008 Italian Grand Prix)}} Lewis Hamilton'''22 years, 287 days(2007 season) | after = Incumbent | years = 22 years, 121 days(2009 season)}} Lewis Hamilton'''23 years, 300 days(2008 season) | after = Incumbent | years = 23 years, 133 days(2010 season)}} Lewis Hamilton | title = AutosportRookie of the Year | after = Kris Meeke| years =2008}} Robert Kubica|title=Lorenzo Bandini Trophy|years=2009|after= Lewis Hamilton}} Kimi Räikkönen|title=DHL Fastest Lap Award|years=|after= Fernando Alonso}} Jenson Button|title=AutosportInternational Driver of the Year|after=Incumbent|years=2010–2011}} }}

Category:1987 births Category:Formula BMW ADAC drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers Category:Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Category:German Formula One drivers Category:German racing drivers Category:Kart racing drivers Category:Living people Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:People from Bergstraße (district) Category:Racing drivers from Hesse Category:Red Bull Racing Category:Spanish Formula Three Championship drivers

ace:Sebastian Vettel af:Sebastian Vettel ar:سباستيان فيتل an:Sebastian Vettel ast:Sebastian Vettel az:Sebastian Fettel map-bms:Sebastian Vettel be:Себасцьян Фетэль be-x-old:Сэбастыян Фэтэль bi:Sebastian Vettel bg:Себастиан Фетел bar:Sebastian Vettel bs:Sebastian Vettel br:Sebastian Vettel ca:Sebastian Vettel cs:Sebastian Vettel da:Sebastian Vettel de:Sebastian Vettel et:Sebastian Vettel el:Σεμπάστιαν Φέτελ es:Sebastian Vettel eo:Sebastian Vettel eu:Sebastian Vettel fa:سباستین فتل fr:Sebastian Vettel gl:Sebastian Vettel ko:제바스티안 페텔 hr:Sebastian Vettel io:Sebastian Vettel id:Sebastian Vettel ie:Sebastian Vettel it:Sebastian Vettel he:סבסטיאן פטל jv:Sebastian Vettel ht:Sebastian Vettel lv:Sebastians Fetels lb:Sebastian Vettel lt:Sebastian Vettel hu:Sebastian Vettel mk:Себастијан Фетел mr:सेबास्टियान फेटेल ms:Sebastian Vettel nl:Sebastian Vettel ja:セバスチャン・ベッテル no:Sebastian Vettel pl:Sebastian Vettel pt:Sebastian Vettel ksh:Sebastian Vettel ro:Sebastian Vettel ru:Феттель, Себастьян sq:Sebastian Vettel scn:Sebastian Vettel simple:Sebastian Vettel sk:Sebastian Vettel sl:Sebastian Vettel sr:Себастијан Фетел sh:Sebastian Vettel su:Sebastian Vettel fi:Sebastian Vettel sv:Sebastian Vettel tl:Sebastian Vettel ta:செபாஸ்டியன் வெட்டல் th:เซบัสเตียน เฟทเทล tr:Sebastian Vettel uk:Себастьян Феттель vec:Sebastian Vettel vi:Sebastian Vettel yi:סעבאסטיאן פעטל zh:賽巴斯蒂安·維泰爾

{| style="float:right; background:transparent;" |

name	Sébastien Loeb
birth date	February 26, 1974
nationality
years	1999 – present
teams	Citroën, Kronos Citroën
races	147
championships	7 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
wins	66
podiums	102
stagewins	791
points	1251
first race	1999 Rally Catalunya
first win	2002 Rallye Deutschland
last win	2011 Rally Finland
last race	2011 Rally Finland }}

years	2005–2006
team(s)	Pescarolo Sport
best finish	2nd ()
class wins	0 }}

|} Sébastien Loeb (born 26 February 1974) is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He has won the world championship a record seven times in a row, and also holds several other WRC records, including most wins and podium finishes.

Originally a gymnast, Loeb switched to rallying in 1995 and won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. Signed by the Citroën factory team for the 2002 season, he and co-driver Daniel Elena took their debut WRC win that same year at the Rallye Deutschland. After finishing runner-up to Petter Solberg by one point in 2003, Loeb took his first drivers' title in 2004. Continuing with Citroën, he went on to take a record seventh consecutive world title in 2010. Loeb is a tarmac expert, having won all WRC races on that since 2005 but two (Monte Carlo 2006 and Germany 2011).

Besides his success in rallying, Loeb is a three-time winner at the Race of Champions, after taking home the ''Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy'' and the title "Champion of Champions" in 2003, 2005 and 2008. In 2004, he won the Nations' Cup for France with Jean Alesi. In 2006, he finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2009, Loeb was made knight of the Légion d'honneur.

Career

Rallying

Early career

Loeb was born in Haguenau, Alsace, and grew up in Oberhoffen-sur-Moder. He competed as gymnast and became a four-time Alsatian champion, once champion of the French Grand East, and fifth in the French championship. He broke off school in 1992 but resumed taking classes in 1994, aiming at a professional formation in electrical engineering. On 1994, in parallel with his classes, he started working as an electrician at the Socalec company near Haguenau Airport, where he was the oldest apprentice and already noted for his daring/reckless driving style and his tendency not to be punctual. He could count, though, on the understanding of his boss, who was himself fascinated by speed and owned a Ferrari Testarossa 512 TR.

In 1995, at age 21, he quit his job and classes and definitely turned his attention to racing. In 1998, he started entering events in the French Citroën Saxo Trophy series, winning the title in 1999. Guy Fréquelin, Citroën Sport's team principal, would serve as Loeb's mentor as he entered the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001, becoming the series' first champion by winning five of the six events. During this year, he was also released for participation in the Rallye Sanremo in the Citroën Xsara WRC. In only his third world rally with a World Rally Car, he surprisingly hounded Peugeot tarmac specialist and eventual victor Gilles Panizzi to the finish.

2002–03

The 2002 season was Loeb's first as a WRC driver with the Citroën Total World Rally Team, although the team only participated in seven rounds in the build-up to their full entry the following year. Loeb started the season by provisionally winning the Monte Carlo Rally, after racing under appeal due to a two-minute time penalty incurred by an illegal tyre change during the second day. Citroën considered the penalty too severe but later withdrew the appeal, and Subaru's Tommi Mäkinen then took a record fourth consecutive Monte Carlo win. Loeb later took his debut victory at the Rallye Deutschland in Germany, edging out Peugeot's Richard Burns.

In 2003, his first full season in the championship, Loeb won three WRC events, Monte Carlo, Germany and Sanremo, before losing to Petter Solberg in the Wales Rally Great Britain, also losing the championship to him by just one point. Loeb's reputation grew as he defeated his more illustrious team mates – Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae – over the course of the season. At the end of the year, he earned the title "Champion of Champions" by beating Marcus Grönholm in the final of the Race of Champions.

2004

In the 2004 season, Loeb dominated the WRC scene in a similar way to the Michael Schumacher domination of Formula One the same year, by winning six events and taking six runner-up spots to securely give him the drivers' title, 36 points clear of second-placed Solberg. His six WRC victories tied the record for victories in one season with fellow Frenchman Didier Auriol, who won six events in 1992. He was also responsible for Citroën's second manufacturers' title in a row.

Originally known as a tarmac specialist, 2004 was the year Loeb proved himself capable of winning on other surfaces as well. He won the snow-based Swedish Rally, becoming the first non-Nordic to win the event. On gravel, he triumphed in the Cyprus Rally, Rally of Turkey and the Rally Australia. On tarmac, he continued his success in Monte Carlo and Germany.

2005

In 2005, with victory in the ninth round in Argentina, Loeb became the first to win six consecutive rallies, beating Timo Salonen's record of four from 1985. Having already won the season-opening Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo, he also became the first to win seven in a season, beating his (and Didier Auriol's) own record of six wins in a season. Loeb was in a position to clinch the title while leading the Wales Rally Great Britain, but after it was announced that the last two stages of the rally would be abandoned due to the death of Markko Märtin's co-driver Michael Park in an accident on stage 15, Loeb deliberately incurred a two-minute penalty to drop him to third place and avoid retaining his title in such circumstances. He went on to secure the title by finishing second to Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm at the next rally in Japan.

Loeb eventually extended his win record to ten and won the title with a 56-point margin, breaking a 25-year-old record; Walter Röhrl's margin over Hannu Mikkola in 1980 was 54. Loeb set several other records during the season as well. He won all twelve stages in the 2005 Tour de Corse in France, which marked the first time a driver had won every stage of a WRC rally. Loeb's twelve podium and thirteen points-scoring finishes in a row were also new records in the series.

In the Race of Champions, after being surprised by the young event rookie Heikki Kovalainen last year, he beat Tom Kristensen in the final to claim his second title.

2006

Citroën's parent company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, pulled both manufacturers out of the WRC at the end of 2005, but Citroën planned to return in 2007 with the C4 WRC, and developed the car during 2006. Loeb was closely involved with this as he was guaranteed the leading role in the team at the comeback. In the meantime, a 'gap year' beckoned in the privateer ranks, namely with Citroën-sponsored Kronos Racing entered as the ''Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team''.

In order to score on the first round in Monte Carlo, Loeb was initially forced to activate the SupeRally rules for retiring competitors, having spun off the road on day one. Although he did manage to fight his way back to second place, it was the first time he had ever been beaten to the finish (namely by fellow double world champion Marcus Grönholm) on these roads in the Xsara WRC. This outcome was mirrored on the following month's Swedish Rally, with Grönholm again the man to whom Loeb was forced to give best, placing the duo in an early runaway 1–2 position in the points standings.

But the Frenchman's bridesmaid status was not to last, and racking up a triumph on the ensuing Rally Mexico – the first of five on the trot that season – propelled him into a championship lead he was never to lose. He tied Carlos Sainz's record number of 26 individual rally victories in August with a fifth consecutive victory in Germany. With his subsequent victory in Japan, the world record of 27 victories and counting eventually became his. His victory in Cyprus put him on the verge of a third consecutive World Rally Championship title.

Shortly after Loeb broke his right humerus in a mountain-biking accident near his home in Switzerland and missed the rallies in Turkey and Australia. In spite of this, Loeb had accumulated such a huge point lead before Turkey that Marcus Grönholm's failure to finish third or better in Australia handed Loeb the 2006 championship crown. He received the news at home via an Internet video link to the rally HQ. Due to the time difference, he made do with early morning coffee instead of the customary champagne, calling the whole experience "strange".

2007

For 2007, Sébastien Loeb returned as an official Citroën driver, with the new Citroën C4 WRC. He won the 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, the first race for the new C4, following that up with a solid second place after Grönholm, in Sweden, to set up a two-point lead over the Finn after two of 16 rounds. At the first Rally Norway, Loeb went off and lost eight minutes during SS12 while chasing Grönholm and the leader, Mikko Hirvonen. On the next stage, he made another mistake and lost nine minutes. He eventually finished 14th in the rally and dropped to third in the championship standings. He won 8 of the 18 stages in this rally. Loeb won the next rally, the 21º Corona Rally México, 55.8 seconds clear of Grönholm.

He then followed this success up with his third and fourth season victories on the Portuguese and Argentinian rallies. Characteristically, he was once more to be found in the lead on the seventh round, the Rally d' Italia in Sardinia. On new stages on the final leg to those of the previous year, however, Loeb was once more to lament error and the surrender of probable victory, this time after crashing and breaking his suspension in a ditch. He left the lead in the hands of Grönholm, who won to propel himself seven points ahead of Loeb at the top of the championship standings. A second loss to the Finn in as many years on the Acropolis Rally then extended the deficit to nine points over the championship's summer break.

Loeb occupied his recess by, amongst other engagements, competing in the Shell Donegal International Rally on 15, 16 and , partially as preparation for the coming Rally Ireland world championship round that November. He scored a comprehensive victory, albeit only after being given a scare by the pace of tenacious private Subaru-mounted Mark Higgins. Punctures afflicted upon his rival eventually settled the contest.

Ambitions of finally scoring victory on Rally Finland proved once more unrealized, with Loeb relegated to third place behind the pacy natives Grönholm and Hirvonen. Rallye Deutschland, as was traditional, differed somewhat. Although, at the scene of his first victory and on a rally where he had never subsequently lost, Loeb was left unexpectedly to fend off the challenge not of the Finn, but of a privateer, his one-time team-mate and championship returnee François Duval, he came to eventually triumph, reducing some of his championship points deficit.

A very close battle on the gravel stages of Rally New Zealand ended with the closest second place in the whole of World Rally history – Loeb finished only 0.3 s behind his main rival. The next two rounds, however, allowed the French driver to regain some points, as he won both tarmac events – Rallye Espana, where his teammate Danni Sordo additionally took second place and two points from Grönholm, and Rally France.

Rally Japan was another dramatic event – Loeb got the chance to take the lead in Championship after Grönholm's early mistake, but he was unable to, as his co-driver mistake caused the C4 to go off road on one of the stages of second leg. Both drivers ended with no points after finally retiring from the event. In Ireland, during 1st Rally Ireland almost the same story happened – Marcus Grönholm overcooked a slippery right corner on one of the early stages, trying to keep a fast pace, and had to retire from the rally. Loeb made use of his rival's mistake and, by making no major mistakes, although having some suspension-related problems with keeping pace at the beginning, he added 10 points to his account, moving ahead of Finnish driver just one round before the season's end. In Wales he was not fighting for the win, focusing mostly on securing his advantage, finishing the event third – on 2007 Loeb became World Rally Champion for the fourth time in a row.

2008

Loeb started the 2008 season with a record fifth win in Monte Carlo. On the second rally of the year, 2008 Swedish Rally, he crashed out during day one. Although he re-joined the rally to collect manufacturers' points, the team later decided to retire him due to a damaged engine. After winning in Mexico and Argentina, Loeb had a crash with Conrad Rautenbach in Jordan, from which he could only recover to take tenth place in the rally. He went on to win two events, and then finish close third to the Ford factory team duo Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala at the Rally of Turkey.

Loeb later notably won the Rally Finland ahead of Hirvonen. This was the fourth time in the event's 58-year history that a non-Nordic driver won the rally, after Carlos Sainz in 1990, Didier Auriol in 1992 and Markko Märtin in 2003. This started a string of five victories for Loeb. In Germany, New Zealand and Spain, Citroën also took double wins as his team-mate Dani Sordo took three runner-up spots in a row.

Going into the penultimate round of the season, the 2008 Rally Japan, Loeb led Hirvonen by 14 points and needed a third place to secure the world drivers' title. Finishing behind Ford's Hirvonen and Latvala, Loeb broke Juha Kankkunen's, Tommi Mäkinen's and his own record of four titles and became the first five-time world champion in rallying.

After clinching the World Rally Championship, Loeb edged out Latvala to take his first Wales Rally GB win, a feat which also helped secure his team their first manufacturers' title since 2005, from 2006 and 2007 victors Ford. In December, Loeb won the individual 2008 Race of Champions, becoming the second driver after compatriot Auriol to win the event more than twice.

2009

Loeb started the year by winning Rally Ireland for the second time since 2007. He then won his first Rally Norway ever, after a fierce battle with Mikko Hirvonen, lasting throughout the very final stage. Being first on the road through all three days, Loeb kept his lead, in the end winning with 9.8 seconds over Hirvonen. Loeb continued his good form by winning over Hirvonen in Cyprus, marking his career 50th victory, and in Portugal. His victory in Argentina, the fifth in a row in this country, was also his fifth victory in a row since the start of the season.

At the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Loeb had a puncture after going off the road and dropped from third to fourth. Although he passed Petter Solberg for the final podium spot, he still finished fourth due to a time penalty for a safety rule violation; co-driver Daniel Elena had unfastened his safety belts before the crew stopped the car for a tyre change. At the Acropolis Rally, Loeb crashed out from third place. On Rally Poland's return to the WRC, Loeb had another crash but he continued in the event under ''superally'' rules. After team orders issued for the Citroën Junior Team drivers and a late mistake by Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala, Loeb found himself seventh but had lost the championship lead to Hirvonen by one point.

By winning the Rally Catalunya, Loeb reduced the deficit to Hirvonen in the title race before the final event of the year; once again trailing by a single point. The Frenchman gained the championship by winning the final event of the year, the Rally GB. Victory was secured partly due to an incredible performance over SS8 and SS9, where in the course of only two stages Loeb extended his lead in the rally over Hirvonen from 2.4s to 25s.

2010

The 2010 WRC season started with the snow-based Swedish Rally, where Loeb finished second behind Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. He went on to take a clear championship lead by winning the following three gravel events: Rally México, Jordan Rally and Rally of Turkey. In New Zealand, Loeb finished third in a tight battle that saw the top five finish within 26 seconds of each other. In Portugal, Loeb narrowly lost the win to his countryman Sébastien Ogier of the Citroën Junior Team, who took his debut win in the World Rally Championship. In the following Rally Bulgaria, a new event in the series and the season's first tarmac rally, Loeb won while Citroën scored the WRC's first 1–2–3–4 in seventeen years.

At the 60th Rally Finland, Loeb beat Citroën privateer Petter Solberg to the final podium position, behind Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala and Ogier. He went on to win the Rallye Deutschland for the eighth time in a row, marking the first time a driver has won a WRC rally eight times. After a fifth place in Japan, Loeb secured a record-extending seventh consecutive World Rally Championship title by winning his home event, the Rallye de France. As the Rallye de France–Alsace had replaced the Tour de Corse as the French round of the WRC, Loeb ended up clinching the title on a final stage that was held in his home town of Haguenau, Alsace.

Racing

Le Mans/Sports Cars

As his WRC stature grew, Loeb began to participate in road racing events and tests. He first competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race in 2005, where he drove for the Pescarolo Sport team's No. 17 entry. Reportedly Loeb did much of his preparation for the race by running practice laps around the circuit in the Sony PlayStation 2 video game Gran Turismo 4 aboard a private jet. In the race the car was plagued by incidents, but Loeb proved to be able to drive fast for his first race on a closed track. Loeb finished second overall in the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Pescarolo-Judd, between the two Diesel-powered Audi R10.

Free time in his WRC schedule allows him to race in the French GT Championship (FFSA GT) where he drove a Ferrari 550 Prodrive and a Porsche 911 RSR as well as in the French Carrera Cup where he achieved top-10 finishes.

Formula One

Loeb has had a number of Formula One tests. He first tested for Renault F1 at Paul Ricard in December 2007, in a switch that saw Heikki Kovalainen test Loeb's WRC car. Red Bull, which became a major sponsor of the Citroën factory team during the 2008 season, rewarded Loeb for winning the WRC with a Formula One test in Red Bull Racing's 2008-spec Red Bull RB4. He first drove the car at Silverstone, and then took part in the first official Formula One winter test in Barcelona. Loeb was eighth quickest of 17 drivers.

Loeb continued to set his sights on a switch to Formula One in 2009. Following stories that fellow Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais was under threat at Toro Rosso, Loeb told French newspaper L'Equipe that he was interested in replacing Bourdais at the Red Bull-backed team. He intended to make his F1 debut at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which took place in November, after the WRC season finished, with a view to making the switch full-time for . However, this plan was scuppered when he was not granted an FIA Super Licence, rendering him ineligible to race in F1 for the foreseeable future as he had not done enough circuit racing at lower levels. He had also been in contact with the US F1 Team about a possible drive for .

Loeb has also taken part in an official GP2 Series testing session after the 2009 season, where he drove for the David Price Racing team, finishing last of 25 drivers.

Loeb took part in the Race of Champions 2010, driving for Team France alongside 4-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost.

Personal life

Loeb has a wife, Séverine, and a daughter Valentine. They reside near Lausanne, Switzerland. He was made knight of the Légion d'honneur on , 2009, by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Loeb is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Victories

:{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" !colspan="5"| World Rally Championship victories (66) |- !  #  ! Event ! Season ! Co-driver ! Car |- | 1 | 21. ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2002 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 2 | 71ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo | 2003 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 3 | 22. ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2003 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 4 | 45º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia | 2003 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 5 | 72ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 6 | 53rd Uddeholm Swedish Rally | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 7 | 32nd Cyprus Rally | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 8 | 5th Rally of Turkey | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 9 | 23. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 10 | 17th Telstra Rally Australia | 2004 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 11 | 73ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 12 | 35th Propecia Rally New Zealand | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 13 | 2º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 14 | 33rd Cyprus Rally | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 15 | 6th Rally of Turkey | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 16 | 52nd Acropolis Rally | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 17 | 25º Rally Argentina | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 18 | 24. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 19 | 49ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 20 | 41º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2005 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 21 | 20º Corona Rally México | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 22 | 42º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 23 | 50ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 24 | 26º Rally Argentina | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 25 | 3º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 26 | 25. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 27 | 3rd Rally Japan | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 28 | 34th Cyprus Rally | 2006 | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC |- | 29 | 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 30 | 21º Corona Rally México | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 31 | 41º Vodafone Rally de Portugal | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 32 | 27º Rally Argentina | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 33 | 26. ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 34 | 43º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 35 | 51ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 36 | 1st Rally Ireland | 2007 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 37 | 76ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 38 | 22º Corona Rally México | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 39 | 28º Rally Argentina | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 40 | 5º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 41 | 55th BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 42 | 58th Neste Oil Rally Finland | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 43 | 27. ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 44 | 38th Repco Rally New Zealand | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 45 | 44º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 46 | 52ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 47 | 64th Wales Rally of Great Britain | 2008 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 48 | 2nd Rally Ireland | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 49 | 3rd Rally Norway | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 50 | 37th Cyprus Rally | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 51 | 43º Vodafone Rally de Portugal | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 52 | 29º Rally Argentina | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 53 | 45º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 54 | 65th Wales Rally of Great Britain | 2009 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 55 | 23º Corona Rally México | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 56 | 28th Jordan Rally | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- |57 | 2010 Rally of Turkey | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- |58 | 2010 Rally Bulgaria | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 59 | 28. ADAC Rallye Deutschland | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 60 | 2010 Rallye de France | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 61 | 46º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 62 | 66th Wales Rally of Great Britain | 2010 | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC |- | 63 | 24° Corona Rally México | 2011 | Daniel Elena | Citroën DS3 WRC |- | 64 | 8° Rally d'Italia Sardegna | 2011 | Daniel Elena | Citroën DS3 WRC |- | 65 | 31º Rally Argentina | 2011 | Daniel Elena | Citroën DS3 WRC |- | 66 | 61st Rally Finland | 2011 | Daniel Elena | Citroën DS3 WRC |- |}

Loeb provisionally won the Monte Carlo event in 2002 but was later docked two minutes for an illegal tyre change and demoted to second place.

Loeb also provisionally won the 2009 Rally Australia, but was penalized one minute to second place as his car was fitted with a non-regulation part.

Loeb's win at the 2010 Rallye Deutschland was his eighth victory in a row there, marking a record for consecutive wins in a WRC event. He was the only driver to win the rally since its 2002 introduction to the WRC calendar, until 2011, when he was second and Sébastien Ogier won.

Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

! Equipe de France FFSA

Citroën Saxo>Citroën Saxo Kit Car

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! –

! 0

rowspan=2

! Sébastien Loeb

Citroën Saxo>Citroën Saxo Kit Car

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

–

0

! Equipe de France FFSA

! Toyota Corolla WRC

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

rowspan=3

Sébastien Loeb

Citroën Saxo>Citroën Saxo Kit Car

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

14th

6

Citroën Saxo>Citroën Saxo S1600

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Automobiles Citroën

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

rowspan=2

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Automobiles Citroën

Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

10th

18

! Piedrafita Sport

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Kronos Total Citroën WRT

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total WRT

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total WRT

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total WRT

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total WRT

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Citroën Total World Rally Team>Citroën Total WRT

! Citroën DS3 WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

* Season in progress

References

External links

Official web site

Profile at WRC.com

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:People from Haguenau Category:French rally drivers Category:World Rally Championship people Category:World Rally Championship drivers Category:World Rally Champions Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:French expatriates in Switzerland

ar:سيباستيان لوب ast:Sébastien Loeb bg:Себастиан Льоб ca:Sébastien Loeb cs:Sébastien Loeb cy:Sébastien Loeb de:Sébastien Loeb et:Sébastien Loeb el:Σεμπαστιάν Λεμπ es:Sébastien Loeb fr:Sébastien Loeb ko:세바스티앵 뢰브 hr:Sébastien Loeb id:Sébastien Loeb it:Sébastien Loeb he:סבסטיאן לב jv:Sébastien Loeb lv:Sebastjēns Lēbs lt:Sébastien Loeb lmo:Sébastien Loeb hu:Sébastien Loeb nl:Sébastien Loeb ja:セバスチャン・ローブ no:Sébastien Loeb nn:Sébastien Loeb pl:Sébastien Loeb pt:Sébastien Loeb ru:Лёб, Себастьен sk:Sébastien Loeb sr:Себастјен Леб fi:Sébastien Loeb sv:Sébastien Loeb tr:Sébastien Loeb uk:Себастьян Льоб zh:塞巴斯蒂安·勒布

Name	Anthony Wayne Stewart
Birth date	May 20, 1971
Birth place	Columbus, Indiana, United States
Achievements	1995 USAC Triple Crown Champion1997 Indy Racing League Champion2002, 2005, 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Champion2006 IROC XXX ChampionNASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV Winner2005, 2007 Brickyard 400 Winner
Awards	1996 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year1996 Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the YearNational Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Inductee
Total cup races	473
Years in cup	14
Cup car team	No. 14 (Stewart-Haas Racing)
Prev cup pos	1st
Previous year	2011
Best cup pos	1st - 2002, 2005, 2011
First cup race	1999 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last cup race
First cup win	1999 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 (Richmond)
Last cup win	2012 Auto Club 400 (Fontana)
Cup wins	46
Cup top tens	270
Cup poles	13
Total busch races	93
Years in busch	13
Busch car team	No. 33 (Richard Childress Racing)
Prev busch pos	95th
Prev busch year	2011
Best busch pos	21st - 1998
First busch race	1996 Goody's Headache Powder 300 (Daytona)
Last busch race	2012 DRIVE4COPD 300 (Daytona)
First busch win	2005 Hershey's Take 5 300 (Daytona)
Last busch win	2011 DRIVE4COPD 300 (Daytona)
Busch wins	10
Busch top tens	40
Busch poles	6
Total truck races	6
Years in truck	5
Best truck pos	61st - 2005
First truck race	1996 Cummins 200 (IRP)
Last truck race	2005 MBNA RacePoints 200 (Dover)
First truck win	2002 Virginia Is For Lovers 200 (Richmond)
Last truck win	2003 Virginia Is For Lovers 200 (Richmond)
Truck wins	2
Truck top tens	5
Truck poles	0
Total canada races	1
Years in canada	1
Best canada pos	69th - 2002
First canada race	2002 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga)
Canada wins	0
Canada top tens	0
Canada poles	0
Updated	April 28, 2012 }}

Total irl races	26
Years in irl	5
Irl car team	Team MenardTri-Star RacingChip Ganassi Racing
Best irl pos	1st - 1997
First irl race	1996 Indy 200 (Disney)
Last irl race	2001 Indianapolis 500 (Indy)
First irl win	1997 Samsonite 200 (Pikes Peak)
Last irl win	1998 New England 200 (Loudon)
Irl wins	3
Irl podiums	7
Irl poles	8 }}

Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971) is an American auto racing driver and owner. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."

Stewart currently owns and drives the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Burger King Chevrolet Impala in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing under crew chief Steve Addington. From 1999 until 2008, he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, under crew chief Greg Zipadelli, with The Home Depot as the primary sponsor. His ten year tenure with the same team, sponsor, and crew chief is a NASCAR record. Stewart is also the only driver to win both the Winston Cup under the old points system and the Nextel Cup under the chase playoff format, winning those championships in 2002 and 2005 respectively. In 2011, Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the Cup Series championship, which ended Jimmie Johnson's streak of consecutive championships at five. He is the only driver ever to win the NASCAR Cup under Winston, Nextel and Sprint sponsorship, as well as being the only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR. He is also the first driver in Cup to win the championship by virtue of a tie breaker (number of wins during the season is the first level tie breaker, Stewart had 5 while eventual runner up Carl Edwards had 1).

Early life

Tony Stewart was born in Columbus, Indiana, on May 20, 1971, and attended Columbus North High School during his youth. He grew up racing go karts and was successful very early, winning a World Karting Association championship in 1987. He moved up to the United Midget Racing Association (UMRA) where he raced TQ (three quarter) midgets until 1991, when he again moved up this time to the United States Auto Club (USAC) series with help from one of his karting sponsors and friend Mark Dismore. Stewart was the USAC Rookie of the Year in 1991, fifth in 1993 after winning the Hut Hundred, and was the National Midget series champion in 1994.

In 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USAC's version of the Triple Crown, earning championships in all three of USAC's major divisions, National Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown. His winning the Hut Hundred and 4-Crown Nationals were the highlights of the year.

When he was not racing IndyCars, he raced stock cars. In 1996, Tony made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for car owner Harry Rainer. In nine races, he had a best finish of 16th place. He had more success in a one-time ride in the Craftsman Truck Series with Mueller Brothers racing, where he finished 10th.

Stewart was poised to improve his Indy Racing League (IRL) standing in 1997 but at times he struggled to finish. He failed to finish the first three races of a ten race schedule, but recovered to come in second at Phoenix. At that year's Indy 500, Stewart's car was good enough to enable him to win his first IRL race, leading 64 laps. However, he trailed off near the end of the race and settled for 5th place. He finally got his first career win at Pikes Peak, where he led all but seven laps of a 200 lap race. He became the leading contender for the series' championship after a bad slump knocked points leader Davey Hamilton out of first place. Despite an average end to his season, finishing 7th, 14th, and 11th, and five DNFs, Stewart did just enough to beat Hamilton for the IRL title. He also raced in a few midget events, finishing thirteenth and eleventh in the 1997 and 1998 USAC national points, and winning the Copper Classic both years. Between his time in USAC and the IRL, Stewart earned the nickname of "Smoke", first for slipping the right rear tire during dirt races and then for blowing his engine often during his '97 championship run.

As he had done the previous year, he raced a handful of Busch Series races in 1998. This time, he was racing for Joe Gibbs, NFL Hall of Fame head coach of the Washington Redskins who was having major success with driver Bobby Labonte in Winston Cup. When Stewart was able to finish races, he finished in the top 10, and had a 3rd place finish at Charlotte. Stewart so impressed Gibbs that he was signed to drive the majority of the Busch schedule in 1998 to go along with a full-time IRL schedule. The double duty did not affect his performance in either series. In the IRL, he won twice and finished 3rd in the championship. His season was a disappointment as he finished last in the Indy 500 because of an engine failure.

On the Busch side, he finished in the top-five five times in 22 starts. He came close to winning his first Busch Series race at Rockingham, but was beaten on a last lap pass by Matt Kenseth. Stewart finished a solid 2nd place in 2 (of 31) starts, ahead of six drivers with more starts, and had an average finish that was comparable to some of the series' top 10 finishers. Gibbs had enough confidence in Tony that he was moved into Cup for the 1999 season. With that move, Stewart ended his three year career as a full time IRL driver.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Joe Gibbs Racing (1999–2008)

1999 season

Stewart started his Winston Cup career in 1999 with a bang, as he qualified his No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac in second place in his first Cup race, the Daytona 500. He showed courage in one of the Gatorade Twin 125 races, when involved in a battle with Dale Earnhardt for the win. Earnhardt came out on top, but Stewart had nonetheless impressed quite a few people with his performance. In the 500, Stewart ran near the front until problems with the car relegated him to a 28th place finish.

Stewart spent most of his rookie season wowing people, as his car was often in the top 5. He won a pair of pole positions at short tracks, and set a series record for victories by a rookie with three, Richmond, Phoenix and Homestead. (Stewart's record would hold until 2002, when Jimmie Johnson duplicated the feat by winning three times; Carl Edwards won four times in his first full Cup season but was not regarded as a rookie by NASCAR standards.) He finished his first year an unprecedented 4th in points, the highest points finish by a rookie in the modern era (which held until 2006 when his then-teammate Denny Hamlin finished 3rd), and only bested by James Hylton, who finished 2nd as a first-timer in 1966. Not surprisingly, he ran away with the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award.

Stewart also attempted to race on Memorial Day weekend, as he competed in both the Indy 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., at night. He finished in the top 10 at both races; ninth in the 1999 Indy 500 and fourth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. However, he only completed of the scheduled 1,100.

2000 season

Stewart showed no signs of a sophomore slump in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, winning six races at Martinsville, New Hampshire, Michigan, Homestead and two at Dover. However, he fell to sixth place in the standings because of a handful of (Did Not Finish) DNFs and an increase in the number of competitive drivers, among them his teammate Labonte, who won the Cup championship. Tony also began to get some bad press for his on-track incidents. The best known of these came at Watkins Glen, when he and Jeff Gordon tangled and crashed. Stewart made his displeasure toward Gordon known in an obscenity-laden tirade. Stewart won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car event at Irwindale, California, which he called, “one of his greatest wins ever."

2001 season

Stewart's 2001 season got off to a frightening start, as he was involved in a spectacular crash in the Daytona 500 where his car violently flipped over several times in a wreck on the backstretch during lap 173 (the wreck itself was shadowed by the final-lap crash that killed Dale Earnhardt). He walked away unscathed, recovered to win three more races at Richmond, Infineon and Bristol, and, as he'd done before, ran near the front most of the season. Statistically, he had a worse season than 2000, but he was the runner-up to Gordon for the Cup championship.

For the second time he ran "The Double" on Memorial Day Weekend, in spite of a 17 minute rain delay at Indianapolis. He finished 6th in the Indianapolis 500 and 3rd in the Coca-Cola 600, running all of the two races.

The 2001 season was not without controversy. Jeff Gordon pulled a "bump and run" on Stewart to gain a better finishing position in a race in Bristol, and it resulted in Stewart retaliating in a post-race incident by spinning Gordon out on pit road. Stewart was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. He got into further trouble at Daytona, when he confronted a Winston Cup official after ignoring a black flag. At the same race, he also got into an incident with a reporter, kicking away a tape recorder. He confronted the same NASCAR official at the race in Talladega after he refused to wear a mandated head-and-neck restraint. Stewart was not allowed to practice until he wore one and only managed to practice after his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli intervened. His fines and probation periods resulting from these incidents have earned Stewart a reputation of having a hot-temper, and he became NASCAR's "bad boy".

2002 season

Tony started 2002 even more inauspiciously than in the previous season, as his Daytona 500 lasted just two laps due to a blown engine. He went on to win twice early in the season at Atlanta and Richmond but was only seventh in the points standings at the halfway point of the season. The second half of his season was plagued by an altercation with a photographer after the Brickyard 400. NASCAR put Stewart on probation for the rest of the season. He went on to win the very next week at Watkins Glen, and went on a hot streak in the final races, finishing consistently in the top five. At the end of the year, Stewart held off a charging Mark Martin to win his first Winston Cup championship.

2003 season

As defending champion, Stewart managed to have a relatively incident-free 2003. Driving a Chevrolet instead of his previous Pontiac (Gibbs switched manufacturers), Stewart actually had his worst Cup season (until the 2006 season), but it was still good enough for seventh in the points. He only won twice that season at Pocono and Charlotte but led more laps than he had the previous year and was highly competitive in the final races of the year.

2004 season

The 2004 season was highlighted by first victory coming at Chicagoland as well as his second victory at Watkins Glen. Stewart qualified fourth for the first ever Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. However an incident at the first race of The Chase at Loudon dashed hopes of a second series title.

In November, Stewart became the owner of one of the most legendary short tracks in America, Eldora Speedway. Located in New Weston, Ohio, Eldora is a half-mile dirt track known to many as "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954." Stewart began racing there in 1991 and continues racing in special events alongside other Sprint Cup drivers and dirt track legends.

In 2004, Stewart teamed with Englishman Andy Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a Boss Motorsports Chevrolet to take fourth in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. The result does not show the trio's performance, however: They had dominated the race until the last two hours, when the suspension cracked. With 15 minutes left in the race, and with Stewart at the wheel, one of the rear wheels came off, finally ending their run. In addition to placing fourth overall, the trio placed third in the Daytona Prototype class.

2005 season

2005 was one of Stewart's most successful years in the Nextel Cup. He won five races, at Infineon, Daytona, New Hampshire, Watkins Glen and the Allstate 400 at his hometown track, a race that Stewart said he would give up his championship to win, and took with it the No. 1 seed heading into NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup 10-race playoff.

On August 16 Stewart was fined $5,000 for hitting the car of Brian Vickers, after the completion of the Busch Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. Stewart was driving a Busch series car owned by Kevin Harvick Incorporated at the time. Stewart also was placed on probation until December 31.

Following his second win of the season, Stewart began climbing the fence separating the fans from the race track after each victory, borrowing IndyCar Series driver Hélio Castroneves' trademark move. After winning the 2009 All-Star race Tony was quoted as saying "I'm too damn fat to be climbing fences," and recently purchased $17,000 worth of exercise equipment to remedy the problem. It also led to sponsor Home Depot cashing in on Stewart's success with some promotions reminiscent of Stewart's Eldora Speedway drivers. After his second full climb of the fence in Loudon, N.H., they ran a discount on ladders and fencing at the stores with a campaign named, "Hey Tony, we've got ladders", where anyone who presented the advertisement in national newspapers in their stores earned the discount. After his victory in Indianapolis, Home Depot presented fans who presented the advertisement of his Allstate 400 win with a discount on purchasing bricks. He mentioned in a press release from his sponsor, "I plan to keep winning races and helping to drive down the cost of home improvement for The Home Depot customers."

On November 20, Stewart won his second NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, joining Jeff Gordon as the only active, full-time drivers at the time to have won multiple championships. Jimmie Johnson afterward did so from 2006–2010. He also is one of the youngest drivers to win multiple championships and the only driver to have won championships under both the Chase and non-Chase formats. During the 2005 season, Stewart won a total of $13,578,168, including $6,173,633 for winning the championship, the largest season total in NASCAR history. Stewart also went through training to become a deputy sheriff in Alabama.

2006 season

Stewart's 2006 season was very much up and down. He had competitive cars and scored early wins at Daytona and Martinsville. However he also had strings of bad luck. He also suffered a shoulder injury due to two heavy crashes in both the Busch and Cup races at Charlotte during the Memorial Day Weekend races (Stewart's Busch car hit the Turn 4 wall so hard it even knocked the rear end off the car). During the Dover race, he was substituted by Ricky Rudd, and in later weeks had to drive in pain.

Additionally he has once again been involved in several on track controversies.

Following a rough Bud Shootout on February 12, Stewart expressed concern to the media about the possibility of aggressive driving resulting in the serious injury or death of a driver. It came during a week in which the racing world remembered the fifth anniversary of the death of legend Dale Earnhardt, who died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Just a few days after Stewart's comments to the media, during the 48th running of the Daytona 500, he was involved in a number of incidents with Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, who he chased halfway across the track to run into the grass. "He has no room to complain," Stewart said of his brush with Kenseth. "He started it, and I finished it".

On May 20 during NASCAR's All Star Race, Stewart and Kenseth wrecked again. Each driver claimed it was the other one's fault with Stewart saying, "if (Kenseth) thinks it's my fault and I (caused the wreck) he's screwed up in his head." Following the wreck, several media outlets proclaimed the new Stewart-Kenseth rivalry as must-see TV. The so-called rivalry was short-lived as Kenseth and Stewart participated as friends in a joint promotional tour for DeWalt and The Home Depot; Kenseth also appeared in September at Stewart's Eldora Speedway in the NEXTEL PRELUDE with NASCAR drivers, as well as the ARCA Truck Series event there.

On July 23, Stewart once again was at the center of a media storm. On lap 31 of the Pennsylvania 500, Stewart was accidentally squeezed against the wall by fellow driver Clint Bowyer. Stewart responded by waving his hand in anger, then purposely hitting Bowyer's car. This contact sent Bowyer spinning down the front stretch where he collided with Carl Edwards. Stewart was promptly held one lap by NASCAR for rough driving. He did however pass leader Ryan Newman to get back on the lead lap and eventually rallied to finish 7th and get back in the top 10 in the point standings. After initially refusing to take responsibility for the incident he apologized the next day.

Tony Stewart missed the cut to qualify for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup by 16 points. He finished poorly at Richmond after wrecking his primary car in practice, and was displaced in the top ten by Kasey Kahne. As a result, he finished the 2006 season 11th in points, his worst thus far in his career, as he had completed each of his seven previous seasons in the top ten in points. Commenting on not being in the 2006 Chase, he says: “It lets us have the ability to take chances and try things ... that we've been wanting to try but just haven't had the luxury to do it. If we were in the Chase we wouldn't have that ability”. Stewart won three races in the 2006 Chase (Kansas, Atlanta, and Texas).

The season wasn't totally unkind to Stewart, however. He was a participant in the 30th season of IROC and won 2 of the 4 races (Texas, and the Daytona road course) on his way to capturing the series championship. He won a million dollars for the effort, but made an offer to return his prize money if IROC would hold one of its events at his Eldora Speedway. This offer was not entertained as IROC folded in 2007. In addition, Stewart's three wins in the Chase races gave him five total for the season, tying him with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick for second most in Nextel Cup behind Kasey Kahne's six.

2007 season

His 2007 racing season started out with Stewart winning his second Chili Bowl Nationals midget car feature. Tony started off the Daytona Speedweeks with a win in the 2007 Budweiser Shootout. It was his third win in the race. He also won his qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

On lap 152 of the Daytona 500, the rear of Stewart's car slid up the track, and when he tried to cut down the track, he smacked the front of Kurt Busch's car knocking both of them out of the race. Tony and the Busch brothers (Kurt and Kyle) were the three leaders for the majority of the race.

On March 22, 2007, it was released that Stewart would be on the cover of the official NASCAR video game published by Electronic Arts, "NASCAR 08". This would be the third time this honor was given to Stewart (2001, 2004, 2008).

In his first Car of Tomorrow race with the Impala SS, Stewart was dominant at Bristol, leading 257 of 504 laps (green-white-checker finish), before he experienced a fuel pump problem. At the third Car of Tomorrow race at Phoenix, Stewart lead a race high 154 laps, but a late race caution moved Stewart to second, where he finished behind Jeff Gordon. In the following week, Stewart implied the cautions were "bogus" and that NASCAR is rigged like professional wrestling.

On June 4, 2007, Stewart and Kurt Busch had an incident on pit road in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover. Busch passed Stewart on the inside. Busch then slid up, which caused contact, sending him into the wall, knocking out Busch, but with Stewart staying in the race. Under the caution, Stewart was on pit road in his pit box when Kurt Busch pulled alongside to express his feelings over the incident. One of Stewart's crewmen had to jump out of the way of Kurt's car to avoid being hit.

At the All-Star Challenge at Charlotte, he finished 5th behind Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, and Jeff Burton. At the Coca-Cola 600, Stewart finished sixth, after having to come in to pit for fuel.

On July 15, 2007, Stewart led a race high 108 laps and recorded his 30th career NEXTEL Cup win at the USG Sheetrock 400 at Joliet.

On July 29, 2007, after leading a race high 66 of 160 laps, Stewart won the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" race at Indianapolis, just 45 minutes from where he grew up. During the victory lane interview, Stewart was penalized 25 points and fined $25,000 for violating NASCAR's policy on the use of obscene language during interviews during the race.

On August 12, 2007, he won the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen after Jeff Gordon spun his car around after wheel hopping in turn 1 with two laps to go.

2008 season

Stewart began the 2008 season starting 6th for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, and was only able to come up with a 3rd place finish after being passed on the last lap by Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

On lap 109 of the UAW-Dodge 400, Stewart cut a tire and slammed into the turn 3 wall. Stewart came out of the car under his own power, but was helped to the ambulance where he was taken to the infield care center. Stewart had complained about a sore foot from a wreck which occurred the day before in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas. Stewart was later announced okay and ripped on Goodyear for not bringing quality tires. The next week at the Kobalt Tools 500, Stewart commented that "Goodyear doesn't give a fuck about tire quality."

With 3 laps to go in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, Stewart cut a tire and saved it from contact with the wall. However, Stewart had to give up the lead to future race winner Kasey Kahne in order to take pits.

In the Best Buy 400 Stewart was involved in another crash with Elliott Sadler in which Sadler was turned by David Gilliland and Sadler's no. 19 collected Stewart and 11 other cars including Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Stewart said, "I take 100 percent responsibility – it's my fault for being anywhere close to Elliott. If I'm within half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It's my fault – I'm the one that hit him. When I hit him it caused all the guys behind us to wreck, so it's my fault."

On July 5, during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Tony began feeling ill and turned the car over to former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate J. J. Yeley, who finished 20th after getting involved in two wrecks in the last 5 laps. Stewart earned his first & only win of the season in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on October 5. On the final lap Stewart was passed by Regan Smith. NASCAR declared that Smith had made an illegal pass and awarded the victory to Stewart.

Stewart Haas Racing (2009–present)

2009 season

On July 8, 2008, it was reported that Stewart was released from the last year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, primarily because JGR had switched from Chevrolet to Toyota. Stewart was vocal about his loyalty to Chevrolet (which sponsors his USAC Midget, Sprint Car, and Silver Crown teams), and would move to Haas CNC Racing to drive a Haas Chevrolet, with sponsorship from Office Depot (relocating from the No. 99 Roush Fenway team) and Old Spice. Stewart took half ownership of the team which was renamed Stewart-Haas Racing, and Stewart became the highest paid NASCAR driver. Stewart's car at Haas has the number 14 as homage to his hero A.J. Foyt. To date, he is the most successful driver for Joe Gibbs Racing with 33 wins and two championships (2002 and 2005).

On August 15, 2008, fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman signed a multi-year contract to drive the second car for Stewart-Haas Racing, originally to be designated No. 4 but changed to his USAC No. 39, with sponsorship from the U.S. Army (relocating from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing).

As the most recent series champion not among the Top 35 in owners' points, Stewart was first in line for past champions' provisionals for the first five races of 2009. He completed those races without needing to use the provisional, ending up well inside the Top 10 in points. Stewart won his first race as a driver/owner in the non-championship NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV, winning more than $1,000,000, his first win in the event in 10 attempts. He followed that victory with his first points race win as a driver/owner at Pocono in the Pocono 500 on June 7, 2009, the first owner-driver in the Cup series to win a race since Ricky Rudd in 1998. Stewart also won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona after a controversial finish involving a wreck with Kyle Busch, his former teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart's season overall was his best showing since his rookie year, with another win coming at Watkins Glen International.

Stewart qualified for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he finished the first 26 races as points leader. He fell to second in points following reseeding when Mark Martin, who won more races than Stewart, moved ahead of him. On October 5, 2009, Stewart won the Price Chopper 400 and moved to fourth in the standings, ending the season in sixth place.

2010 season

On April 16, 2010, Stewart won his first Sprint Cup pole position in five years at Texas Motor Speedway, with a lap speed of 191.327 mph. The race was the 400th in the Sprint Cup for Stewart, and was his first starting from the pole since October 2005 at Martinsville Speedway.

On May 9, it was reported that Stewart would lose Old Spice as a sponsor after 11 years with them.

Stewart won two races in 2010, the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 5 and the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway on October 10.

On October 12, Mobil 1 announced a sponsorship deal with Stewart-Haas Racing to sponsor Stewart's car, starting in 2011. It would be the primary sponsor for 11 races, while Office Depot would be the primary sponsor for the rest of the season. Mobil 1 would also sponsor Tony in the Budweiser Shootout and the All-Star Race.

2011 season

In 2011, Stewart returned in the No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet. Following a crash intentionally caused by Stewart on Brian Vickers at Infineon Raceway in June 2011, Vickers intentionally wrecked Stewart as payback. In an interview when asked about the crashes, Stewart said, "It was payback, but, you know, I dumped him first, and I dumped him because he was blocking..." Stewart and his teammate, Ryan Newman, started the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 first and second, and they finished it where they started as Newman won that race. Entering the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup portion of the schedule winless, Stewart won the opening race of the Chase at the Chicagoland Speedway and jumped up seven spots in the points, securing second place and extending his streak of consecutive years with a win to 13. Stewart made it two for two in the Chase after Clint Bowyer ran out of fuel in the closing laps of the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Stewart took the win and the points lead after New Hampshire. At Talladega, Stewart struggled to lead a lap, and eventually did so; with assistance from Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, and Joey Logano, he led an additional 29 laps and captured the two-point bonus for leading the most laps. On October 30, at Martinsville Speedway, Stewart won the Tums Fast Relief 500, leading three times for 14 laps and moving into championship contention in second place in the points standings.

The next week, Stewart led 173 laps en route to winning the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, bringing him to within three points of championship points leader Carl Edwards with two races to go in the 2011 season. On November 20, 2011, Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship by winning the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway while Edwards finished second. Stewart and Edwards were tied on total points, but Stewart claimed the tiebreaker by having five race wins to Edwards's one.

2012 season

On February 11, Stewart was beat coming to the finish line on the last lap in the Budweiser Shootout by Kyle Busch. Stewart won the 1st duel of the Gatorade Duels at Daytona, when Danica Patrick hit the wall hard on the backstretch on the final lap, which brought out the caution. Stewart started 3rd in the Daytona 500 and ran well throughout the race, but was caught up in a late race accident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. On March 11, Tony Stewart won the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway beating Jimmie Johnson. It is his 45th career win, and brings his streak of consecutive Cup seasons with a win to 14.

On March 25, Stewart won the rain-shortened Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. It is his 46th career win, and second of the season.

Other racing series

Stewart frequently makes appearances on dirt tracks, appearing regularly at an ARCA race on dirt and at many prominent midget car events, USAC's Turkey Night Grand Prix, and the indoor Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.

Along with Matt Kenseth, he has appeared at Madison International Speedway, a non-NASCAR half-mile track located in Wisconsin on Highway 138 between the cities of Oregon, WI and Stoughton, WI.

Tony also races on rare occasions in the World of Outlaws Series and on July 27, 2011, Stewart won his first ever World of Outlaws race at Ohsweken Speedway.

On September 21, 2011, Stewart and fellow drivers Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon attended the grand opening of Bass Pro Shops in East Peoria, Illinois. The store ended up bringing in as many as six thousand people that night, but not without saying thanks to the drivers, who signed autographs for fans.

"Smoke" nickname

Tony Stewart told NASCAR.com of his nickname: "I wasn't very good about not slipping the right-rear tire, initially. So it started as 'Smoker,' then it got shortened to 'Smoke.' Then when I got in the Indy Racing League it was 'Smoke' because one of the guys on the crew who was my roommate, and knew the nickname, carried it over to the IndyCar team. But then when I started blowing engines, 'Smoke' really stuck. I've had it ever since."

During his NASCAR career, Tony Stewart once was told by No. 20 team owner Joe Gibbs that he could no longer compete in races outside of his Sprint Cup obligations. Stewart worked around this by entering a USAC National Midget race under the pseudonym "Smoke Johnson" with the crowd at the track none the wiser. After winning the feature, "Smoke Johnson" got out of his car and revealed himself to the crowd under his real name. He also once entered himself in a race, driving the infamous "Munchkin" midget chassis, as "Mikey Fedorcak Jr." after buying the Munchkin from Mike Fedorcak during a card game. In 2010 he raced several Modified races under the name Smoke Johnson.

Racing record

IndyCar results

! Year

! Team

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! Rank

! Points

! Team Menard

style="background:#efcfff;"

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

! Team Menard

style="background:#dfffdf;"

!

!

!

!

!

! Team Menard

style="background:#efcfff;"

!

!

!

!

TriStar Motorsports>Tri-Star Racing

WDW

PHX

style="background:#cfeaff;"

TXS

PPIR

ATL

DOV

PPI2

LVS

TX2

!

!

!

!

!

Chip Ganassi Racing>Target Chip Ganassi

PHX

HMS

ATL

style="background:#cfeaff;"

TXS

PPIR

RIR

KAN

NSH

KTY

STL

CHI

TX2

!

!

Indy 500 results

! Year	! Chassis	! Engine	! Start	! Finish	! Team
			1st	24th
		Oldsmobile	2nd	5th
	Dallara	Oldsmobile	4th	33rd
	Dallara	Oldsmobile	24th	9th
		Oldsmobile	7th	6th

IRL statistics

Races 3/3 10/10 11/11 1/10 1/13 26

Year	|	Wins	Poles	Top 5	Top 10	DNF	Finish	Start	Winnings	Season Rank	Team(s)
1996	|	0	1	1	0	2	12.3	4.0	$349,303	8th	Team Menard
1997	|	1	4	4	6	5	8.8	3.4	$1,090,450	1st	Team Menard
1998	|	2	3	5	6	4	11.1	4.5	$1,002,850	3rd	Team Menard
1999	|	0	0	0	1	0	9.0	24.0	$186,670	33rd	TriStar Motorsports>Tri-Star Racing
2001	|	0	0	0	1	0	6.0	7.0	$218,850	39th	Chip Ganassi Racing
colspan="11" style="background:gray; height:5px;"
Totals	|	3	8	10	15	11	10.1	4.8	$2,848,123

NASCAR statistics

Races 34/34 34/34 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 36/36 5/36 469

Year	|	Wins	Poles	Top 5	Top 10	DNF	Avg. Finish	Avg. Start	Winnings	Season Rank	Team(s)
1999	|	3	2	12	21	1	10.3	12.6	$2,615,226	4th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2000	|	6	2	12	23	5	12.4	16.7	$3,200,190	6th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2001	|	3	0	15	22	4	12.6	17.0	$3,493,040	2nd	Joe Gibbs Racing
2002	|	3	2	15	21	6	12.6	13.2	$4,695,150	1st	Joe Gibbs Racing
2003	|	2	1	12	18	5	14.6	13.9	$5,227,500	7th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2004	|	2	0	10	19	2	12.9	15.3	$6,221,710	6th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2005	|	5	3	17	25	1	9.9	12.0	$6,987,530	1st	Joe Gibbs Racing
2006	|	5	0	15	19	4	13.8	16.7	$7,285,280	11th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2007	|	3	0	11	23	4	13.1	17.6	$6,396,750	6th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2008	|	1	0	10	16	3	14.9	17.1	$6,268,430	9th	Joe Gibbs Racing
2009	|	4	0	15	23	1	12.3	10.4	$6,836,150	6th	Stewart-Haas Racing
2010	|	2	2	9	17	1	13.9	13.2	$5,664,250	7th	Stewart-Haas Racing
2011	|	5	1	9	19	1	12.0	17.7	$6,529,870	1st	Stewart-Haas Racing
2012	|	2	0	2	2	0	N/A	N/A	$1,488,135	4th	Stewart-Haas Racing
colspan="11" style="background:gray; height:5px;"
Totals	|	46	13	164	268	38	12.6	15.0	$72,909,211

Data as of Monday, March 26, 2012

Racecar owner

Stewart is the owner of various open-wheel short track racing cars, most of them being sponsored by Chevrolet since 2007.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (2009)

In the end of 2008 Tony was given a 50% stake in Haas CNC Racing which became Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. Haas CNC Racing, previously fielded the No. 66 and No. 70 cars, now fields the numbers 14 and 39 as Stewart-Haas Racing. This decision involved parting ways with long-time crew chief Greg Zipadelli, sponsor The Home Depot, car number 20, and owner Joe Gibbs, with all of which he had spent 10 years. He drives the No. 14 Chevrolet Impala owned by Gene and Margaret Haas. He is the owner of the No. 39 Impala, which is driven by Ryan Newman.

United States Auto Club

Stewart has won USAC car owner titles in the Silver Crown division in 2002 and 2003 with J. J. Yeley, and in 2004 with Dave Steele. He also collected owner titles in USAC's National Sprint Car Series with Yeley in 2003 and Jay Drake in 2004. He also won an owner title in the USAC National Sprint Car Series in 2007 and 2009 with Levi Jones of Olney, IL

Stewart's USAC midget and sprint cars carry No. 20 and No. 21, while his Silver Crown car carries #22.

Other entities

Stewart owns a dirt late model Chevrolet Impala that carries No. 14 which he races frequently. Stewart has also won a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Championship as an owner with Donny Schatz in 2008. The team is now a 2 car operation with Schatz and Steve Kinser. He is also the owner of Custom Works, a company that manufactures radio controlled oval track cars, and has had a degree of success as a r/c racer himself.

Stewart is also the driving force behind the Sprint Sponsored "Prelude to the Dream" which features drivers from various sports driving late model dirt cars at Eldora Speedway. Since 2005 the "Dream" has showcased a who's who in NASCAR and NHRA, featuring such drivers as Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Pedregon and others. The inaugural race was won by Kenny Wallace, followed by Carl Edwards in 2006. As of late the race has been nicknamed "The Smoke Show" due to Stewart winning back to back to back since 2007. The events have raised over 4 million dollars for various NASCAR and driver charities including The Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Racetrack owner

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart purchased Eldora Speedway located near Rossburg, Ohio in late 2004 from Earl Baltes. Tony Stewart is currently a co-owner of Paducah International Raceway near Paducah, Kentucky. He also co-owns Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois along with Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace and Bob Sargent.

Tony Stewart Foundation

Founded in 2003 by Tony Stewart, the principal purposes of the Tony Stewart Foundation are to raise and donate funds to help care for chronically ill children, drivers injured in motorsports activities and to support other charitable organizations in the protection of various animal species. The Tony Stewart Foundation will raise and donate funds to charitable interests, specifically those that support the aforementioned groups.

TV & radio

Stewart hosted a two-hour weekly radio show, titled ''Tony Stewart Live'', broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio. Stewart co-hosted the show with Matt Yocum, and takes listener calls. The show ran through 2007–2008.

In 2007, Stewart appeared in commercials for Subway with their spokesman, Jared Fogle. Tony Stewart worked at McDonald's while attending Columbus North High School. Former coworkers said he was a great worker — when he showed up.

Appeared with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the music video for 3 Doors Down's song "The Road I'm On".

Appeared in a 2008 Toyota commercial where the cars of Toyota Sprint Cup drivers, including Stewart's, are driven by kids with remote controls. When his kid driver spins his car out of control, he crawls out, yelling to his crew chief, "Zippy, run for your life!" Stewart then throws his helmet at his car, a homage to his habit of throwing helmets and other racing gear in anger.

Stewart appears in commercials as a member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers and a Coca-Cola vending machine with Tony Stewart's picture on it sits in Columbus North High School to this day.

In 2010, Stewart appeared in the commercial for the Burger King Steak House XT, which he endorsed. This video entered the Top 10 of the Ad Age / Visible Measures Top Viral Ad Chart on Aug. 12, 2010.

Appeared as host in the 2003 production of NASCAR Images Adrenaline Vol 1

On February 14, 2012 Stewart guest-starred on the ABC series "Last Man Standing"

Video games

Stewart has been included in Electronic Arts' ''NASCAR'' sim racing series from 2000–present mostly driving his No. 20 Home Depot car, he drives for Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR 09 only.

Electronic Arts announced that Stewart would appear in person for the first time on the cover of NASCAR Thunder 2004 in late 2003, however he is not new to the concept having his Home Depot Winston Cup car appear on NASCAR 2001's cover. Stewart also appears on the cover of NASCAR 08.

References

External links

Tony Stewart Foundation

Stewart-Haas Racing

Tony Stewart at NASCAR.com

Tony Stewart at The Coca-Cola Racing Family

Category:Living people Category:1971 births Category:People from Columbus, Indiana Category:Racing drivers from Indiana Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers Category:Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Category:Indianapolis 500 polesitters Category:NASCAR drivers Category:NASCAR Cup Series champions Category:NASCAR Rookies of the Year Category:NASCAR team owners Category:Brickyard 400 winners Category:International Race of Champions drivers Category:IndyCar Series drivers Category:IndyCar Series team owners Category:Grand-Am drivers Category:World of Outlaws drivers Category:American Christians Category:The Home Depot people

de:Tony Stewart es:Tony Stewart eo:Tony Stewart fr:Tony Stewart id:Tony Stewart it:Tony Stewart (pilota) jv:Tony Stewart hu:Tony Stewart nl:Tony Stewart ja:トニー・スチュワート no:Tony Stewart pt:Tony Stewart simple:Tony Stewart sv:Tony Stewart tl:Tony Stewart